Konoha's Secret Jinchuuriki
by Terrorsong
Summary: What would happen if Naruto's birth was never announced, and she was raised by Kakashi, not to mention a new bloodline. And if the Kyubi, for all it's power, was believed dead! Strong Naruto/Fem! Pairings not yet decided.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, in any way shape or form! Though would be interesting if I did...

"Normal Speech"

**"Demon Speech"**

"_Thought Speech"_

**_"Demon Though Speech"_**

* * *

**Outside the Barrier with the Sandaime Hokage**

There it was, the Kyūbi, right before him and he could do nothing to help the barrier before him erected by Kushina keeping everybody out, but the Kyūbi in. Hiruzen Sarutobi could do nothing as he stood by; watching as his successor and wife did what he could not.

"It shouldn't have been like this... It should have been me in there..." Sighed the Sandaime Hokage.

Turning to the nearest ANBU he stiffened his spine for what was to come, and spoke up, his tone reminding all those just who he was as it rang with authority. "Right, let's not stand idle while the Yondaime does all the work. "Dog, Boar, you'll stand by here, the rest of you I want helping get the wounded and dead back to the hospital and their loved ones, let's clean up this mess while we have the chance."

**Within the barrier**

Kushina was panting, knelt next to him, her hand resting gently upon their recently born daughter, keeping her chakra chains active in her state was effectively ending her already shortened life span.

Frowning he glanced back at the Kyūbi as he formed the last of the hand seals for Shiki Fūjin, before turning back to his daughter with a sad smile. He knew everything was prepared, the large scroll of instructions for the Sandaime, and now with the Shinigami having taken the Yang half of the Kyūbi's soul he could seal the remaining Yin within his daughter. Performing the last few hand quickly he then pressed his palm against his daughter's stomach, murmuring a quiet apology as the last of the Kyūbi was sealed away.

Minato smiled down at Kushina, murmuring quietly as he struggled to keep himself awake, let alone standing. "I'll leave the rest in your hands Aisai, my time is up... Let Sarutobi in, and give him the scroll... And our daughter..." A small smile tugged at his lips as he tilted his head. "Looks like I'll be waiting for you..."

The barrier disappeared, the chakra chains holding it in place evaporating as the user's chakra levels dropped dangerously low, Sarutobi was there in moments, having witnessed the Kyūbi's defeat from outside the barrier and knowing all too well the cost paid for the victory. Looking down at Kushina and Minato he couldn't keep the single tear from rolling down his cheek, as he gazed down at the pair, Minato obviously dead, and Kushina cradling his head in her lap as she leant against the alter that a baby girl was resting upon.

"He did it for them you know? Sacrificed everything... Baka..." Kushina murmured affectionately down at her deceased husband before looking up at Sarutobi a hard look in her emerald eyes. "We're entrusting... Our future... To you... Look after her Sarutobi, the scroll... has everything you, and... Naru-Chan needs to know..."

She slumped forward, panting heavily, her body trembling as she struggled to fight against the closing darkness, she knew she was dead already, the abuse she had put her body through had ended what little hope there may have been to see her daughter grow up. Sarutobi just stood there, watching quietly, nodding at the woman's words with little more acknowledgement then a simple "Hai."

Kushina turned her attention back to her small daughter, leaning over and tenderly kissing the child's forehead as she murmured quietly. "Grow up strong Naru-Chan... And know that... We're both sorry we can't... Be there for you and f-forcing this upon you... And... And that we both love you very, very much..." Her voice slowly quietened, dropping to a whisper, then barely audible before she finally fell silent, her body slumping down against the Alter that her daughter lay upon, her life finally leaving her.

Collecting the Child and scroll he glanced at Dog and Boar as he murmured softly to them. "Not a word of this is to leave this site, understood?" Both ANBU nodded before the Sandaime Hokage Shunshin'd back to his office.

**Hokage's Office**

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in his office, his privacy seals active, keeping those who wanted to enter out for a brief moment of time, allowing him to pour over the scroll given to him and the small child he now had cradled in his arms. The requests had not been that much to ask of him, and he knew he could do as the Yondaime asked, but, he also knew that what he asked wouldn't happen as he hoped. Sighing quietly Hiruzen let his gaze return to the scroll as his thoughts played over what he had read. "_As much as you want her to grow up being recognised as a hero for having sealed the Kyūbi within her, that will not happen with what has happened this night, the attack on the village and all those who lost their loved ones... They will hate this child as if she were the demon itself. Not to mention that if her heritage is brought the council's attention they will attempt to either take her away to be trained as a weapon or to be executed as the Kyūbi... It'd just be easier if it were never known she was alive... And that the Kyūbi was in fact dead..._" Shaking his head a little he placed a small Genjutsu making the child sleep before he collected the scroll and placed it out of sight. Dropping the privacy seals he called out to the ANBU waiting outside. "Dog, retrieve the others, and be quick, it is of the utmost importance." Dog appeared briefly, before he Shunshin'd away to collect the other members of the Sandaime's most loyal ANBU.

**Fifteen Minutes Later...**

Seven masked ANBU stood before the Hokage, watching him silently as the aged Hokage paced before them. It'd been a minute since the last had arrived and the Sandaime still had yet to speak, leaving all but Dog and Boar questioning what was so important that they were pulled from the village not long attacked to stand before the Hokage.

Hiruzen glanced at the seven before him, he knew that he could only ask what he needed of two or three of them, no more could assist for fear of jeopardizing the mission he had in mind. Yet again the Hokage sighed before he stopped his pacing and turned to face the gathered ANBU, his most trusted elite. "I have an S-rank mission, though rather than assigning it to one of you, or more, I ask for volunteers. Know now, that you will have to volunteer before given the details of the mission, and only those who hold the Yondaime's dying wish in high regard and are willing to follow through with it regardless of what the mission may be are to remain, the rest are dismissed back to their prior duties." It could almost be said that surprise rippled through the seven, an unknown mission of S-rank, and barely anything in the way of information about it, and not to mention the fact they would all but have to forgive and forget the Kyūbi attack, it was admittedly a little unsettling. Bowing to the Hokage one after the other four of the seven ANBU left in the five minutes Hiruzen waited. Noting the three remaining he smiled to himself, shaking his head a little before he once again reactivated his Privacy seals and moved back to his desk to settle himself behind it.

"Please, be seated." The Hokage motioned to the chairs before his desk as he sat back in his own after collecting the sleeping child from it. "This mission is S-rank, and as such if anything regarding its details is leaked... I'll have to punish you accordingly, regardless of your intentions. You have remained, there for have volunteered for this mission and as such will be held responsible for what happens to this child. The Yondaime's heir and Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi." He paused a moment to let the information sink in before continuing. "As such this child herself is an S-rank secret, and everything pertaining to what I am telling you tonight will not go past these walls. Dog, you will be raising her. You will be retired from ANBU duties but remain on the active duty roster as an Elite Jōnin; you will receive ANBU pay as well as a monthly sum to cover living costs of yourself and the child." Hiruzen eyed Dog a moment, knowing the young man would not like that decision, but seeing as he was the closest link to Minato it would be for the best to have him raise the Yondaime's daughter. Turning to the other two he spoke up once more. "Boar, Cat, you will be the child's silent guards, one of you will be rostered to watch over her at a time, switching between the pair of you so that you will be able to keep up appearances. I will repeat again, no one, and I mean no one, is to know about this. Dog, she is to be your little sister, you will raise her as thus, and seeing as Minato was your sensei that shouldn't be much of an issue for you. You will also be given access to the Namikaze residence for anything you may need of her parents possessions to help in her training, or that she may ask for in regards to her parents. She will grow up knowing who and what she is. As per her parent's request." The ANBU nodded quietly glancing momentarily between themselves before Kakashi pulled his mask off and set it on the table before the Hokage, before having the scroll and child passed to him.

"For now, take her back to your apartment, till I can set aside something bigger for the pair of you to live in, Boar, you will have first watch of the pair, Cat, return to what you were doing previously, and remember. I'm putting not only my faith in you three, but that of Kushina and Minato. To the village, the Kyūbi is dead. They needn't know more than that." Seeing the ANBU nod once more the Hokage raised his hand to dismiss the two ANBU as well as his privacy seals as he turned back to Kakashi. "I know this is asking a lot of you Kakashi, but I believe that Minato and Kushina would have wanted no one else but you to do that. Can you do it, for them?"

Kakashi simply nodded, a slightly bewildered look could be seen in his one visible eye, as he gazed down at the small bundle in his arms. "My little _imōto..." Shaking his head a little he turned to leave the Hokage's office as he murmured quietly to himself as the small child in his arms._

* * *

**Three Years Later...**

Kakashi was all but tearing his hair out; it was the third time this week Cat had turned up on his doorstep with Naru in her arms. "You really should keep a better eye on her Kakashi." The cat masked woman murmured with an amused tone. "The little escape artist is going to get you in trouble at this rate if you're not careful." Kakashi's shoulders slumped as he grunted in response, taking his giggling imōto from her ANBU guardian. "Not as easy as it sounds you know... One minute she's sitting there quietly playing with her toys, the next she's already outside and walking down the street..." Despite his resignation that he'd once again failed to keep the little terror out of mischief, he was relieved to find that she'd come back unharmed and no attention was brought to her.

"You know Kakashi, why not take her out if she's so keen to see outside?" The cat masked ANBU asked, tilting her head as she regarded Kakashi. "I mean, what's a little henge or Genjutsu to you? The Great Sharingan no Kakashi." She all but laughed as she Kakashi face palmed with a soft groan. "Why didn't I think of that..." Shaking his head a little to himself Kakashi murmured his thanks as Naru raised a little hand and waved to the Cat ANBU before Kakashi turned away and closed the door.

**The Next Day...**

Kakashi slowly strolled down the streets of Konoha, a small silver haired infant sitting astride his shoulders gaping at the village about her. Few of the villagers paid the pair any mind, the subtle Genjutsu doing its work, for the most part, making them not worth the time to pay attention to. Letting the pair explore the village for a while undisturbed.

Maito Gai was just finishing his nine hundred and sixty third lap of Konoha on his hands when he spotted his silver haired rival and the small child riding on the young man's shoulders. The distraction was enough to cause him to falter briefly and crash to the ground. Quickly jumping to his feet he dashed over to his youthful rival shouting loudly as he closed in on the silver haired Jōnin. "Kakashi, my eternal rival! Who is this brilliant snow flake riding upon your shoulders?!"

Having noticed Gai and been caught up to in the process of trying to slip off Kakashi sighed dramatically as he murmured a soft apology to his imōto while turning to face the boisterous Gai. "This is my imōto Naru, Naru-chan... This is Maito Gai." Naru smiled brightly down at the green spandex wearing male as she raised a hand from Kakashi's head to wave at the large eye browed man.

Gai tilted his head at that a moment before shaking his head and letting his gaze drift back and forth between the pair. The girl looked distinctly similar to Kakashi, though her long flowing hair was decidedly different from the spiked style that Kakashi sported. Her silver hair bordering on white almost glimmered like fresh snow in the bright sunlight, her large sapphire blue eyes stared back at him with a hint of innocent curiosity. As Gai opened his mouth to question Kakashi he was interrupted but the silver haired Jōnin. "Not to be rude or anything Gai, but we're sort of in a hurry, need to get back and set Naru-chan down for a nap..." Closing his mouth quickly Gai nodded before grinning brightly, the sun reflecting off his blindly white teeth. "Yosh! I shall return to my training so that I will be able to defeat you in our next battle!" He started to go off on how many laps of Konoha he would do on his hands, and should he fail that, press ups with just two fingers, then should he fail that with one finger while standing on his head, at that point Kakashi shunshin'd back to his apartment.

"_Ug, let's leave that headache for another day... Sorry Naru-chan, but that will have to be it for our exploration today... Maybe we can go out more often though seeing how well that went._" He smiled to himself as he let Naru down from his shoulders and went about preparing lunch for Naru and himself.

* * *

**Another Three Year's Later...**

"No, that's wrong, do it again. And this time, without the pink stripe in your hair." Kakashi scolded that young girl, shaking his head a little as he watched his imōto perform the henge once again. He knew she was goofing off, she'd mastered it early, but if she wanted to go out and play he wanted her to be serious. Despite the fact it was her birthday, she should know better than to draw attention to herself like that. Sighing softly he shook his head at Naru before murmuring lightly. "Alright, fine. If you do it properly, and maintain it till you come home, I'll give you the advanced Fūinjutsu book from your father's collection, deal?" He all but laughed at her change of heart from grudgingly doing as she was requested to eagerly performing the task at hand.

"Hai nii-san! You promise right? Not like last time... When you said you'd stop reading those books..." She raised a brow at Kakashi as she tilted her head slightly to the left. Kakashi had the good graces to blush faintly as he nodded. "Hai, hai, I promise. I'll go collect the book now, okay, just behave yourself." Cheering to herself she darted out the door and off to meet her friends.

Kakashi gave an eye smile as he watched her rush off. The smile didn't last long as he sighed and turned about before calling out. "Alright Jiraiya, you can show yourself, she's gone." Slipping from his hiding spot and landing next to Kakashi Jiraiya chuckled nervously, as he watched his goddaughter run off. "Sorry... But after last time I thought it might be best to stay out of sight till after she'd left..." Kakashi snickered at that, shaking his head a little as he recalled the incident between the Sannin and his little imōto who had caught him peeping...

**...** Six Months ago

He had come into the apartment to find Kakashi, but sadly the younger man seemed to be out, a note on the counter stating he'd be back as soon as he'd gotten the groceries. Jiraiya had quickly made himself at home, that is until he heard the shower going. The sound quickly peaked his interest, seeing as his Goddaughter usually went with Kakashi these days when they went out to shop, her excuse being that she had to make sure her nii-san got the ramen she liked. Getting up he moved slowly through the house, head tilted as closed on the only bathroom in the apartment. As he reached the door the shower stopped. Grinning to himself the Sannin carefully opened the door to peer into the room only to choke back a gasp of surprise. There in her now mostly covered glory was Yūgao, a small white towel held to her body covering her front as she stepped from the shower. The Sannin grinned gleefully to himself, thanking Kami for such a glorious gift as the one standing before him. Pulling his notebook from his pocket he quickly started jotting down notes, fully intent on using this new 'Research Material' in his new book. So absorbed in his writing he failed to notice his goddaughter step out of her bedroom and stop upon seeing her Godfather crouched down by the bathroom door. The first warning either shinobi had of being watched as a rather dark and insidious aura that flooded the hallway in which the Sannin was sitting, his first reaction was to jump to his feet and spin about as the dark radiating aura emanated out of the little redhead. A feeling he'd felt only twice before washed over him, fear for his life. Memories flashed through his mind as he recalled Tsunade's reaction to his peeping on her, and then Kushina's reaction, the only two women he had truly feared were being out done by the small child standing before him. All he could think as she glared death at him was that he hoped to Kami that Kushina wasn't waiting for him on the other side. Naru screeched loudly as she charged Jiraiya fist raised back ready to strike. "ECCHI!" Sadly for poor Jiraiya his goddaughter's height was lacking a little, leaving very little else in the way to hit in her blind rage bar his favourite possession. The scream of pain could be heard all over the village as the Sannin crumpled to the ground, hands clasping his injury as little Naru continued to lay into Jiraiya till he was rescued by a barely clothed Yūgao, but not before collecting the Sannin's 'Research Note's and disposing of it. Jiraiya would later claim to having been attacked by a phantasm, claiming that Kushina had risen from the grave and beaten him senseless for his attempted peeping...

**...** Current Day

Kakashi shuddered at the memory, even only having had second hand accounts of what had happened, it was still more than enough to make his blood run cold. Turning his one eyed gaze in the direction Naru had run off in he murmured a quiet thanks to Kami that he had so far remained unscathed by his imōto's hatred of perverts. "So what brings you about this time then Jiraiya?" Kakashi finally broke the silence that had stretched on, more than happy to leave his thoughts behind for hopefully better tidings.

"It's the gaki's birthday... Thought I'd bring her a little something... Though, I think it may be better if I just leave it with you..." The Sannin chuckled nervously glancing at Kakashi whom gave him an eye smile. "She'd like it more if you were to give it to her you know, and it's not like she seriously holds a grudge for too long... You should be alright... I mean... That was six months ago." Slumping slightly in defeat he nodded his ascension. "I suppose you're right, and she is my Goddaughter... I really shouldn't hide from her... Even if she is like the reincarnation of Kushina..." Both men chuckled softly at that as they moved inside to continue their conversation there.

~With Naru~

Poking her tongue out at Kiba she was quick to laugh and jump away as the infuriated young boy leapt after her. "Come on Kiba, surely you can catch a giiirrl, or are you not as good as you say you are hrm?" She continued to taunt the Inuzuka while keeping just out of range of the boys reach.

Kiba was becoming more and more infuriated with the silver haired girl, why did she know how to push every single one of his buttons, and not only that, keep out of his reach so he couldn't even lay a finger on her to prove all her annoying words wrong! Growling in anger he continued to chase the girl around the playground, fully intent on tagging the girl who was provoking him, much to the amusement of the rest of the children in the playground, noting, that once again, Naru had turned their game of tag into a game of cat and mouse with Kiba.

Laughing softly to herself she once again darted just out of reach of Kiba as his hand came close to tagging her shoulder only to find at the last second that he'd changed targets as he'd found her slipping away, and grabbed a fist full of her long silver locks. Yelping softly she stopped abruptly as the young Inuzuka tugged on her silver mane.

Smirking triumphantly Kiba stomped his left foot as he tugged on her hair again. "You're not so proud of yourself now, huh?" Kiba failed to notice that the cheerful mood of the playground rather quickly died away as he tugged on Naru's hair like it was a leash, pulling the silver haired girl back towards him.

"You jerk! Let go of my hair! That hurts!" Naru struggled a little, only to wince as she once again caused him to pull on her hair. She was slowly being backed up, and was in little position to change what was happening, that was until Kiba decided to mouth off one too many times.

"Look where your precious hair's got you now Naru! You're no better than a pet on a leash!" Kiba all but yelled at Naru, a pleased grin spreading across his features, that was until Naru went stock still, shifting a little to peer back over her shoulder before fighting against his grip, tugging her head hard against his hold, only to have her hair give out before his grip did. Strands of hair pulled free in the young Inuzuka boy's hand, much to the shock of many of those present, though that shock was only replaced tenfold as the young Naru turned about and leapt at Kiba, screaming at him.

"How dare you! How dare you damage the only momento my mother left me!" She continued to scream at Kiba as she tackled him and starting clobbering the young boy with her fists, swinging them down at his head. All Kiba could do was lift his arms to protect his head, blocking the enraged Naru's blows, too taken aback to retaliate.

The fight was ended as abruptly as it began, a Cat masked ANBU appearing out nowhere, collecting the screaming Naru and disappearing as fast as she had arrived, leaving Kiba lying in the dust with a handful of red hair, too shaken to even get up as he lay there staring at the hair caught in his fist.

After a moment he got back to his feet, tucking the hair into his jacket pocket before dusting himself off. Letting out a yell he dashed up to the nearest person to him, much to Choji's despair and yelled at the larger boy. "Tag! You're it!" Then ran off as if nothing had happened, deciding to think about what he had found later.

**Three Hours Later...**

A much calmer Naru sat quietly before Yūgao, as the cat masked woman carefully ran a brush through the younger girls red hair. She murmured softly, making sure that Naru could hear her while she tidied up the damage done by the upset Inuzuka Clan member. "You really shouldn't have lost control like that you know. What would Kakashi say if he heard about it? He'd be utterly disappointed in you, not only for getting into a fight with a boy, but for completely forgetting about all the training he's been putting you through." Naru's shoulders slumped at that, it was true, she had completely lost it when her hair had come into the firing line at the playground, and had given up on doing anything more than simply trying to hurt that boy who had damaged her hair. "I'm sorry Yūgao-neechan, please don't tell Nii-san, I won't do it again! I promise! And... And I'll work harder at my training too! I swear I will!" Naru pleased with Yūgao, the last thing in the world she wanted to do was disappoint her Nii-san, which Yūgao took advantage of. Smiling to herself behind her mask she nodded a little as she murmured in a strict tone. "Make sure you do Naru-chan, I don't want to have to tell Kakashi about today..." Turning about Naru buried her face against the Yūgao's shoulder and hugged the masked woman. "Thank you! Thank you Yūgao-neechan." Returning the hug Yūgao murmured softly once more. "You're welcome Naru-chan."

The rest of the day was mostly uneventful, a new couple of jutsu scrolls from her Godfather, which, despite how she hated perverts, she managed to put it aside and hug Jiraiya, who had promised to help her learn them over the next couple of days. Kakashi hadn't bought her anything, but she accepted that, she'd been given the day off from training, in addition to the three she was allowed a year. Yūgao had brought her some clothes, something the cat masked ANBU felt she needed, with Kakashi's ability to shop for woman's, or girl's clothing. Her last two gifts came from the Hokage and Boar. She didn't know his name, but he was the other ANBU who kept watch over her and her Nii-san, so she had accepted him just as well as she had accepted Yūgao. The gift from the Hokage was the deed to her parents land, giving her the best place to practice her jutsu, and to train away from prying eyes. Sadly it was held in a trust, and while it was hers by right now, Kakashi still had the final say until she was eighteen. Baor's gift was a little more simple, a beautifully carved fox with three tails made of wood, likely Boar's very own Mokuton was used to create it. Of all of the gifts the fox carving was the one she liked the most, despite the fact she had a fox demon sealed within her, she didn't hate all foxes because of that.

* * *

**Two months before entering the Academy...**

Kakashi had been given another infiltration mission, though this time instead of opting to get a baby sitter for Naru, he requested she join him on the B-Rank mission. The Hokage wanted to argue that she stay behind, but seeing as he had taken her as his apprentice shortly after her sixth birthday, he really didn't have a say in the matter so agreed with the condition it wasn't a regular occurrence. It took a week for the pair to arrive in Tsume no Kuni, and another two days to finally reach and sneak into the Daimyou's palace.

It hadn't taken long to find what they were looking for, any information that might link the Daimyou to the assassination attempt on the Daimyou in Kiba no Kuni. The documents, had been hidden, in a safe behind a painting of a previous Tsume no Kuni Daimyou, though Kakashi had been able to get it open fairly quickly, at which he handed the documents over to Naru with an eye smile. "You know the drill Naru-chan, you copy what we need down, I'll check to make sure the coasts clear to get out of here fast, it'll be nonstop till we get back to the boarder of Hi no Kuni." Kakashi murmured as he moved back to the only door into the room. He cast his gaze out into the corridor before cursing under his breath. "And make it quick, we have company..."

Naru sighed softly, shaking her head a little as she pulled out her Fūinjutsu supplies and quickly started to scribe down several seals to transfer the information on the scrolls they had collected onto her own scrolls. She murmured quietly, lifting her gaze briefly from her work. "I'm going to need more time, there is too much here... Can you buy me like... Two minutes? A distraction is all I'll need..."

Nodding Kakashi moved out into the hall way. "Okay, meet me out where we came in, you've four minutes, if you're not done by then leave, I don't care if you don't have it all. We will need to get out immediately at that point."

With that he was gone, his presence no longer outside the door. Naru bit her lower lip, brows furrowing slightly. She murmured quietly to herself, one hand raising to tuck a loose strand of red hair back behind her air before she formed a seal with one hand. "Fūin!" Her seal glowed blue briefly before vanishing, and in its place the information on the scrolls she had spread out about her quickly copied itself onto her scroll. Once the jutsu was active Naru moved about the office putting the scrolls back where Kakashi had grabbed them from before tiding up the office, in hopes of leaving it looking like no one had been there. It wasn't until she moved back to her scrolls and collected them that she noticed the presence behind her, she turned about all but dropping her scroll as a gasp escaped her.

The brief blue flash of chakra as Naru had activated her seals hadn't gone unnoticed. "_Huh... There shouldn't be anyone in the Daimyou's office at this hour... Maybe this has to do with the intruders..._" Slipping into the office he watched the girl move about, tiding the mess she had made and putting away the top secret files she had been looking through. Frowning to himself Yami pulled a kunai from his holster and moved to grab the girl only to have her spin about as he approached her. "Huh... A sensor... Interesting..."

Naru cursed under her breath, she'd gotten too focused on the task at hand she hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings. "_If nii-san finds out I'm in so much trouble..._" Tucking the scroll away she barely had time to roll out of the way as a kunai went whistling through where her head had been not moments before. Hoping supprise would be on her side she deactivated her restriction seals with a soft 'Kai' before darting forward, kunai in hand, drawn from the holster on her thigh and struck out at the male between her and the door.

Caught by surprise, he grunted as the kunai bit into his thigh, to slow to jump out of the way in time as the red head hit him, and darted out the door. Cursing to himself he rushed after her, forming a quick few seals and yelling Kanton: Gōkakyū no Jutsu,

before raising a hand to his mouth before belching a huge ball of fire directly after the spry brat trying to escape him.

Muttering curses Naru glanced back as she felt the growing heat only to see a fireball coming directly for her. Forming a one handed seal she summoned a Kage Bushin and used it to throw herself out of the path of the fireball as it consumed her clone. Checking herself briefly she created a Mizu Bunshin, which turned to fight the coming ninja as she continued to rush for the meeting point with Kakashi.

Shaking his head again at himself, having once more underestimated the young girl as he found the hallway lacking a corpse, and then, coming up against a water clone shortly thereafter. He'd dispatched it rather easily, though it had managed to slow him down enough that he'd lost sight of the girl.

~With Kakashi~

Panting softly he glanced around, his Sharingan shining in the low light coming through the window from the moon. "_Four down, one left, and by the looks he's about to run... Can't have him getting help, and I still have to find Naru-chan..._" Shaking his head a little he formed a quick series of hand seals before murmuring "Katon: Endan." And firing several bullets of flame from his mouth which the final ninja fail to dodge. "_They were nothing but Chūnin level... I hope Naru-chan hasn't gotten herself in over her head again..._" Sighing softly Kakashi pulled his hitai-ate back down over his Sharingan before heading off to the meeting place in hopes of finding Naru there.

~Back with Naru~

Grumbling quietly to herself as she glanced about she crept slowly down yet another hallway she didn't recognise. She'd managed to lose the ninja who'd been chasing her, though sadly she'd lost herself shortly thereafter, having taken a wrong turn to escape one of the ninja's jutsus. She contemplated activating her tracking seal so Kakashi could come find her, but quickly dismissed the thought, not wanting to worry her Nii-san if he was already in a fight somewhere. "_I can do this... I... Just have to find somewhere I recognise so I can get out of here... Maybe I should trace my footsteps back to my last recognisable location..._" Forming a one handed seal she produced two more Kage Bushin and had them scout ahead of her as she moved back the way she had come.

A minute later she managed to find a corridor she recognised, and started to head back to where she was to meet Kakashi, only to come to a halt as the memories of her clone came flooding back. "_Shit... That's not good, he's closer than I thought... And what was that jutsu... I've never seen an_-" Wincing, she dropped to one knee, her hands raising to her temples as a sudden pain shot through the backs of her eyes. Whimpering softly she willed the pain down as she pushed back to her feet and cracked open one eye to peer about. "_Argh... By Kami... What did he do to my clone..._" She staggered as step before shaking her head a little to clear it as the pain receded slowly.

Muttering to himself he continued down the hallway. "_Clones, two of them at that... That makes four... For such a small kid she sure has a lot of chakra to throw around, not to mention that speed she displayed earlier in the office..._" He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of someone collapsing nearby, leaping up a wall next to him, he moved closer to whoever had collapsed. A grin spread across his face as he gazed down at the red head slowly rising back to her feet. "_Seems she's paying for all that chakra she used. Hmpf, seems I was getting concerned over nothing._" Dropping from his place on the wall he landed before the child and chuckled coldly. "Looks like your chakra reserves are getting low kid. Give up now and hand over what you stole and maybe I'll let you live..."

Swallowing her fear she stood strong, quickly shaking her head at the offer and scoffing. "Pfft, as if, I'm an enemy ninja, I know what'll happen to me if I surrender." She quickly dropped into a taijutsu stance, ready to defend herself should she need to. "_I need to get past him, just down that corridor and to the left, that's where Nii-san is waiting for me..._"

"_Hmm... Kids got guts... Well, let's see how she handles herself then..._" Forming a few quick seals he raised his left hand to his mouth as he yelled "Yōton: Endan!" Before firing a small flaming ball of lava directly at Naru, smirking to himself as her scream of agony tore from her throat and the girl's body hit the floor.

~With Kakashi~

"_Naru..._" He'd know her voice anywhere, even if she sounded like she was being tortured, it was a sound he never thought he'd have to listen to. All plans of escape left him as he rushed off in the direction Naru's scream had come from. As he dashed down the corridor he pulled his hitai-ate back up, his Sharingan spinning as he turned the corner to find the enemy ninja closing on Naru. Flashing through several quick hand seals he yelled his jutsus name, drawing the attention of the foreign ninja. "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!" A massive dragon of water came crashing through the wall of the palace and crashed down where the ninja had been standing. Using the moment the ninja had leapt away he dashed forward, collected Naru in his arms and leapt out the whole his jutsu had punched through the wall.

Yami landed on the wall where he had dodged out of the way of the water jutsu before forming his own seals and firing another Kanton: Gōkakyū no Jutsu after Kakashi as the leaf ninja disappeared out the whole his water dragon had made. Cursing as his technique met nothing but a Kawarimi.

**Two days later...**

Kakashi all but collapsed as he stopped, he needed to rest and he just couldn't sustain the pace he had set. He'd passed through Kiba no Kuni, and was perhaps two to three days out from Konoha, close enough that a patrol should pick them up in a day or so. He spared one last glance at Naru, who was now sleeping peacefully, her eyes had changed back three hours after they'd made their escape from Tsume no Kuni, the gold bands about her iris' and pupils fading back to her normal sky blue. "_I hope she's alright, the Kyūbi usually has her back on her feet shortly after any minor injury, and even larger ones she's up after a day... But she's been out for two now..._" Giving a single shoulder shrug he pushed himself back up to his feet and moved about, setting up their camp before tucking Naru up carefully in his tent and laying down next to her. No sooner had his eyes closed he was sound asleep.

**The Next Morning...**

Kakashi woke to the smell of frying eggs and the sounds of someone moving about his small camp. Tilting his head he glanced at where Naru had been sleeping only to give an eye smile as he noted her lack of presence within the tent. Stretching languidly a moment he slowly rose, slipping from the tent to greet his little sister figure. "Well, sleep well Naru-chan?"

Squeaking faintly she jumped slightly in surprise before shooting Kakashi a scowl. "I almost dropped your eggs Nii-san! How many times have I told you not to do that!" Her cheeks flushed a faint hew of pink, knowing it was her own fault for getting caught up in what she was doing once again.

Raising a hand in a placating gesture Kakashi gave Naru an eye smile as he moved to sit next to the young girl. "Sorry, sorry." Kakashi quickly sobered as he kept his gaze on the fire. "So... How are you feeling? You were out for two days you know..."

Naru blinked, tilting her head a moment, before raising a hand to brush a loose strand of red hair back behind her right ear. "Mm... I feel fine... I... I don't really have much memory of what happened after I got the documents copied... There was another ninja, I recall that... But not much else... I feel fine, but... He helps with that..."

Kakashi frowned at that; memory loss was never good, especially considering the ninja she had been fighting was an unknown factor, not to mention that when he had found her she was already unconscious. "Well we'll get you checked when we get back to Konoha, just to make sure." Kakashi raised a hand to forestall any complaints. "It's procedure, nothing I can do about it. If you're suffering head trauma then it needs to be seen to as soon as possible. Now, finish up breakfast and let's eat. We've still got two days hard travel to get back to Konoha.

"Hai nii-san." Naru murmured quietly as she quickly finished cooking their breakfast, her thoughts once again pulling inward as she tried to figure out what had happened. "_I don't think there is anything wrong... I'll give it more thought later, it can wait till we're safely back within the villages walls._"

* * *

**Author's Note:** First time attempting something like this, so hope it turned out okay. More to come, obviously, but until then rate, review ect. Oh! And if you have an OC you'd like to pop up in the story feel free to PM me with the character's info before the chunin exams, or if you have an idea when you'd like the character to pop up! Oh, and if anyone is good with the romaji, please let me know. Having a terrible time trying to translate some of this stuff :p

**Shiki Fūjin** - Dead Demon Consuming Seal

**Aisai** – Beloved Wife

**Gaki** – Brat

**Fūinjutsu** – Sealing Techniques

**Tsume no Kuni** – Claw Country

**Kiba no Kuni** – Fang Country

**Kanton: Gōkakyū no Jutsu** – Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique

**Mizu Bunshin** – Water Clone

**Katon: Endan **– Fire Release: Flame Bullet

**Yōton: Endan** – Lava Release: Lava Bullet

**Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu **– Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Techinque

**Kawarimi no Jutsu** – Body Replacement Technique


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I totally don't own Naruto *noddles* Just my idea's an' concepts :O

"Normal Speech"

**"Demon Speech"**

"_Thought Speech"_

**_"Demon Though Speech"_**

* * *

**Chapter One**

It was her first day at the academy, and she was all but bouncing off the walls as she got ready. Kakashi couldn't help but sigh at the young red head, all but face palming as he watched her. "You know it's going to be boring right? They are going to be going over stuff you learnt three years a go... I mean, how can you be so excited to learn stuff you already know?" Kakashi questioned the red head as she bounced back into the kitchen of their smallish apartment.

"I get to be me though, ya know! I can actually start to make friends... Not hide behind a disguise." The red head responded before she poked out her tongue as she pouted a little. "Don't worry though, I understand why I had to. I mean Dad's enemies would come after me right? I've got to get stronger before we can tell them who I am, well, all of who I am..."

Kakashi gave the little red head his trademark eye smile as he chuckled faintly. "Well, I guess it's the first day you get to be you, huh? So I suppose that is something to be excited about." A thoughtful sound escaped the Jōnin before he continued. "Just don't get your hopes up too high, I think you'll find what the academy has to offer is a little... Uh... Lacking..." He gave a small shrug before he glanced at the clock. "You should probably go though, unless you intend to Shunshin..."

She was gone before he could speak further, a blur of red shooting past him and out the door. Naru's feet barely touched the ground outside their apartment before she ran some chakra through her legs and leapt up onto the Ninja Highway, the rooftops, and started to run towards the academy. "_Like hell I'm going to be late on my first day! What kind of impression is that going to make, I mean, I couldn't even start with the rest of the class because Jiji was so stubborn about letting me start._" Her thoughts distracted her, from her surroundings, letting her body run on auto pilot.

She went unnoticed for the most part, only getting the occasional glance from a Jōnin or ANBU as she made her way to class undisturbed from her thoughts. To be honest with herself she was slightly worried what people would think of her, a new shinobi in training just appearing out of the blue in the village apparently having been here all her life. She really wasn't sure how many people would believe the story. She for one wouldn't.

* * *

**At the Academy...**

Iruka Umina smiled to himself as he glanced down at the red head before him, she'd turned up a few minutes early and had been hanging out in front of the classroom waiting for him to arrive to introduce her. Standing before him was a girl with long red hair, reaching down to the middle of her back, with bangs framing her face. A pair of bright blue eyes stared up at Iruka as he regarded the child. She was dressed in tidy attire, a short navy blue skirt that stopped about mid thigh with black pants beneath which reached her knees, a white short sleeved t-shirt that stopped just above her waist and a black jacket over that which was open at the front. Tilting his head he gave his prospective student a once over before ushering her into the classroom.

Clearing his throat the class went almost silent immediately, which impressed Iruka, though he suspected it had something to do with the suddenly shy girl following in his shadow. Turning to face the class he frowned as Kiba stood up abruptly and pointed at the girl and rather loudly drew attention to himself as he yelled at her. "What are you doing here!?" The rest of the class turned to look at him brows raised before looking back at the girl next to Iruka.

Naru stared back at Kiba, cheeks flushing a little with embarrassment and anger. "_How... He shouldn't recognise me, not at all... I was under a henge the entire time, and used perfume so I smelt different..._" Iruka cut her thoughts short as he yelled at Kiba using his Bighead jutsu. "Sit down this instant Kiba! How is that to treat a new transfer?!"

Kiba had the grace to blush as he realised what he had done and promptly sat back down tugging his collar up as if trying to hide. He let out a loud "Hmpf." As if dismissing the matter and turned his head to look out the window, not even offering an explanation or apology.

Iruka glanced at the red head offering as small smile of apology before turning back to his class once more and speaking up. "As I just said, we have a new student in our class as someone rudely pointed out." Shooting a stern look at Kiba he continued. "She'll be joining us from now until she graduates and will be a part of this class at the Hokage's request." That last bit drew a few whispered murmurs from the class as Iruka motioned for the red head to step up and introduce herself.

Sighing inwardly Naru stepped up before the class, her gaze glancing over the faces staring down at her. "_Ug, why am I so nervous... I've met them all before... Well, the clan heirs I have... Some of these civilians I haven't seen before..._" shaking her head a little she finally spoke up, bringing her hand up to her chest as she all but shouted at the class. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm going to be the first female Hokage, ya know!" Her cheeks reddened a little as she heard a couple of giggles escaping the students, though no outcry denying her was spoken. She glanced back at Iruka who gestured for her to go find a seat as he said just that. "Find a free seat and I'll start the lesson."

She found herself seated by a Hyūga, Hinata Hyūga to be exact, though despite this she found the girl to be very quiet, to the point she didn't speak more than one or two words, and when she did it was stuttered horribly, almost beyond recognition. She resolved herself to make this girl her friend, and try and help the girl past her speech impediment, though she'd have to befriend her first.

* * *

**Two hours into class...**

Naru groaned softly to herself quietly, her forehead resting on the desk as she listened to Iruka drone on, unable to bring herself to concentrate on what he was saying, something about the first shinobi war. "_Blegh, Kakashi-nii wasn't kidding when he said it would be boring... I just wish he'd told me how boring it would be... I should have sent a shadow clone instead..._" With that thought she sat upright abruptly, startling the Hyūga next to her with her sudden movements and getting a soft squeak out of the girl. Naru smiled apologetically at the girl as she shifted in her seat her gaze flicking to the clock to check the time before groaning again as she found she'd have to wait at least another half hour before their lunch break.

She'd been let free from the torture that had been the droning voice of Iruka for a brief reprieve, lunch! Taking this time she quickly formed a one handed seal and summoned a shadow clone, which quickly leapt up to the wall surrounding the academy and which Naru Kawarimi'd with and jumped off the wall and darted off away from the academy while her shadow clone sighed to itself and headed back towards the classroom, unaware of the two pairs of eyes watching the clone, having seen the entire display.

Naru had slowed her speed as she reached the populated areas of the village, and started to abuse henge, to change her appearance, to make sure no one who, may or may not be keeping an eye out for her, could find her. At first it was subtle things, like her hair colour, and clothing, then her gender and age changed, until the time she reached the gates and she was back under her old henge. She approached a wooded area she glanced about a last time, sending her senses out to see if anyone was close before slipping past the first few trees and vanishing from view.

Yūgao sighed softly to herself as he watched her little sister figure slip into her family's estate, out of sight of the rest of the world. She knew she could enter if she wanted, Naru had extended that courtesy already, but she also knew if Naru had entered it meant she either wanted to be alone or was going to do some serious training without being disturbed. Regardless of the red heads reasons Yūgao wouldn't bother her, she'd simply wait for her to finish and come back out, or until she was relived.

* * *

**Within the Barrier, upon the Namikaze estate...**

Smiling to herself Naru glanced about her father's private training grounds. She liked it here, it was quiet and completely cut off from the outside thanks to a few rather amazing seals that her father had put up before his death. She'd been amazed when she'd found the place. She had been seven at the time and finally gotten the chance to explore some of the places her mother had mentioned in her diary, but when she'd gotten here she had been unable to enter, it took her five minutes to figure out why, and another ten to find one of the seals in the array to splash her blood on to allow her access to the grounds. She'd then spent the next two weeks reworking the seal that Kakashi and Yūgao could find her when she disappeared within the barrier. They could enter, though they usually let her be unless they had entered with her to train.

"Well I guess I should do what I skipped out of class to do huh?" The red head asked no one in particular as she formed a one handed seal for the Kage Bunshin before a thousand shadow clones appeared in the clearing before her. She smiled at herself, all of her selves as they almost immediately jumped off to the own tasks.

Four hundred went off to one corner of the training grounds and continued their study of advanced seals, she was almost done with the book, which would leave her with her mother's final two books. The Uzumaki expert seals and one with no name, though she liked to think of it as the Uzumaki-Namikaze clan seals. The book was a compilation of seals that her mother and father had created.

Two hundred clones split into two groups of a hundred moved to the small pond at one end of the grounds and the surrounding trees to work on advanced chakra control exercises. Another hundred and fifty worked on water chakra manipulation, while fifty clones worked on her wind chakra manipulation. While she had a firm grasp of both elements, she wanted to master water first to helm with her mother's Kenjutsu style.

The next group of clones, a hundred to be precise went off to work on her Ninjutsu, helping to master the Futon and Suiton jutsu she had been taught by Kakashi, while some of the hundred poured over some clan scrolls her mother had tucked away.

A group of thirty ended up in fifteen pairs to work on her mother's Kenjutsu katas and her father's taijutsu katas, slowly developing a mastery of her parent's styles. She had yet to develop her own, but she was content to work on her parent's for now.

The last seventy clones and the original started an all out brawl between the clones and herself to help work on her speed and reflexes in combat like situations. She rather enjoyed the all but free for all mess that was the fighting that herself and her clones ended up being, some even going so far as to turn on themselves as they lost her in the masses.

That evening a rather exhausted red head dragged herself back home, with some kindly assistance from Yūgao, and collapsed the moment she could, onto the couch in their small apartment. Kakashi raised his single brow in question at the pair before chuckling lightly. "I thought we agreed you would only use six hundred to train with?" His amused tone was enough to earn him an angry glare from Naru for a brief moment, before she whined softly. "I don't have the energy to get up, let alone be angry at you Nii-san."

"Oh? So no Ichiraku's then for dinner?" Kakashi laughed as Naru leapt out of the chair she had been flopped in and rushed for the door. "Come on Nii-san! Ramen!" And with that she was gone, dashing out the door on her way to Ichiraku's!

* * *

The young red head fell into somewhat of a routine; Kakashi would get her out of bed as the sun rose and the pair would leave their apartment and train together till an hour before Naru needed to be at the academy, giving her time to clean up, eat breakfast and prepare for classes. She'd then go to class first, find out if anything interesting was going to happen, and fail that, swap with a shadow clone and head for her family's estate, to continue her personal training, furthering her growing mastery of her current skill set. Her day ended with Cat or Boar helping her home after she collapsed with exhaustion.

This routine continued for the better part of a year and a half, only broken up by missions Kakashi accepted for the pair of them. The odd mission every couple of months was something Naru really enjoyed, getting time to test out and see just how far her training was coming and spending time away from the village where she didn't have to hide her abilities from the rest of the village.

Time passed swiftly for the red head, her training progressing at an almost alarming rate thanks to her use of Shadow Clones to further increase the rate at which she could master jutsu, or understands a concept for sealing.

It wasn't until she was on a C-ranked escort mission with Kakashi that she noticed just how far she had come. The pair had left a clone each back in the village to keep up pretences while they were on the mission, after all Naru was still in the academy, she couldn't just miss her classes. Or so Kakashi had annoyingly reminded her.

* * *

It was five months after she had entered the academy, and she was idly walking down a road next to Kakashi, who was chatting to the lone Merchant they were escorting to the capital. Her thoughts were elsewhere, contemplating what her clone had informed her when it dispelled about the offer Hinata Hyūga had made, a sleep study session/sleep over at the Hyūga compound. While the concept of a study session struck the red head as utterly boring considering what she'd been 'studying' in the academy, she had to admit, the chance to spend time in her best friend's home, and to stay the night no less, was very appealing.

Sighing in aggravation Naru was jerked from her thoughts by one of her clones dispelling. At the sound escaping the red head Kakashi raised a brow at his little sister figure. "What's up Naru? Trouble?"

Naru nodded, her brow furrowing into a frown as she murmured lightly. "It's the bandits we were informed of though it appears there is a ninja or two with them." She bit her lower lip as she continued. "My clone was forcefully dispelled. Kunai I think... May have been a Shuriken."

Kakashi nodded lightly before turning back to the merchant and offered an eye smile. "Don't worry, my cute little 'apprentice' here has things under control. She's had shadow clones out since we left the village. I'm sure she's already prepared for what is to come."

Naru rolled her eyes before poking her tongue childishly at Kakashi before turning to look out into the forest surrounding them. "Two days, right Nii-san? Before we reach the capital that is..." At Kakashi's nod she sighed lightly. "They'll likely attack this evening then, or maybe early tomorrow morning." Again, another nod from Kakashi, the only thing changing outwardly was his one eyed smile now focused on Naru.

"_She's really come a long way from when we started training, she's probably already high Chūnin or maybe low Jōnin in skill..._" Kakashi mused to himself before he spoke aloud. "When we set up camp prepare some perimeter seals and get some rest, I'll take first watch, and you can take second."

"Hai Sensei." Simply responded, switching to business mode as she summoned another shadow clone before dispelling it with new instructions for her clones already out in the surrounding forest.

Later that evening Naru found her sleep rather rudely interrupted when her seals were disturbed. She frowned to herself a moment before sighing and quickly dressing before jumping off to join Kakashi.

The Jōnin glanced down at the red head beside him a moment before smiling as he murmured in a hushed whisper. "Glad to see I don't need to wake you up Naru-chan." He gave her an eye smile in the darkness of the wee hours of the morning before getting serious. "How many do we have?"

Naru closed her eyes a moment, before channelling chakra into them and opening them again as she looked about, letting her senses reach out for the chakra signatures she knew would be close by. "Three ninja, two Chūnin level chakra signatures and a Jōnin level one, as well as six bandits by the level of their chakra."

Kakashi nodded lightly before rolling his shoulders slowly, limbering himself out. "I'll take the three ninja, I know, no fun for you, but this is serious. Jōnin with them could be an issue for you, and I'd rather worry about three ninja, then one ninja and six bandits."

* * *

"Shit, looks like we got Kakashi and his brat." A gruff male voice sounded from the tree's before another responded from a little further back. "You sure? This was supposed to be a simple smash and grab. Get in, kill the merchant, and get out with the goods..." A soft spoken voice returned, from the sound it was hard to tell whether it was female or male. "Yeah, I'm sure. That red hair is a pretty uncommon factor, and I'd recognise the famous Copy Ninja anywhere." The gruff voice returned before a third voice, distinctly female cut in. "That's bullshit, why is such a high profile ninja doing a simple babysitting job?" The question was punctuated by a soft thud as a fist slammed against a nearby tree, The second voice spoke up. "Probably has to do with the girl. She can't be more then what? Ten? Regardless, we can't count her out if what the rumours say are true..."

* * *

"Found them Nii-san." Naru nodded in the trio of missing-nin's direction before starting to run though several hand seals, only to be stopped by Kakashi. "None of that. The ninja are mine, go take care of the bandits." Naru frowned a little, looking almost ready to protest nodding and darting off in a blur of red.

The nearby nukenin, having noted the building chakra, all turned to peer through the trees, only to see a red blur leave Kakashi's side. "Shit, that girl can seriously move... Guess we should put more stock in the rumours then we though." The gruff voice spat out. The second ninja raised a hand, cutting the third ninja off before she could speak. "Karis, go after the girl, the goons we brought with us won't last against her. Make it quick, we'll likely need you against the copy ninja." The soft spoken voice rang with authority, the clear leader of the three. "Rich, you're with me till she rejoins us." The pair chorused together. "Hai Krishna-sama." Karis Darted off with no further word, chasing after the red head.

* * *

Kakashi, seeing the movement, sprung into action moving to intercept, only to have a rather large spike of earth shoot up and impale him. "Ha! Got him!" Crowed Rich crowed in his gruff voice as he jumped into the clearing. "So much for the infamous copy ninja." The growing grin on his face abruptly died as a popping sound indicated a clone being dispersed. The soft spoken voice rang out from the trees. "Idiot, that is why you didn't get to go after the girl. You would have underestimated her and gotten yourself killed." Kakashi took that moment to prove Krishna's point as two hands shot out of the ground, grabbed Rich about his ankles before dragging him into the earth, burying him up to his neck before Kakashi popped out of the ground.

Kakashi's sole Sharingan glowed in the moonlight as he stared down at the man before him. "Richard C-Rank nukenin from Iwa, two hundred and fifty thousand ryō price on his head, dead or alive." Raising a hand to his chin he rubbed it thoughtfully, as he spoke again. "You're the weakest of the group according to her, barely mid Chūnin chakra levels, your two friends are the real problem. One of which is an elite like myself. And yet knowing this you rushed in first? I feel sorry for your tea-" Kakashi was rudely interrupted as he was forced to dodge three more earth spikes that shot out of the ground at him from different directions.

"Heh, I may be the 'weakest' but of my two companions." Rich growled out as he rose from the ground. "But I'm more than enough for you." Kakashi couldn't help but sigh at himself for having gotten distracted with his chatting to let the ex-Iwa ninja escape from the ground.

* * *

**~With Naru~**

Naru sighed faintly to herself as she glanced about at the bandits surrounding her. "_I always get the boring tasks to do... And only six of them too..."_ She was standing ready, one hand before her, the other to the left, palm facing outward. The six standing bandits glanced at the red head nervously, the four already incapacitated on the ground, one of which would likely need medical attention, was starting to unnerve the group. She sighed again, this time audibly before murmuring in an overly sweet voice. "Why don't you big bad men just surrender so you don't end up like the next guy who moves a muscle?"

As if on cue one of the bandits started to run his mouth, an arrogant smirk on his face. "Heh, there's six of us and one of you, why don't you surrender. If you do we'll be gentle with ya, I'm su-" He didn't get to finish, faster than the bandits could keep up with the red head moved, the next thing the group knew the girl was standing behind the man that had been speaking, her stance the same, though now the hand before her was dripping with blood and had both hands had taken on claw like properties. Naru's hair rose behind her in the air in nine separate, looking almost like tails. She slowly turned to look back over her shoulder at the group of bandits, her normally bright blue eyes now glowing red with slitted pupils, blood speckled across her face. A dark aura of foreboding flooded the area as the red head spoke in a hushed tone. "I really, really hate perverts... But rapists? I hope you enjoy hell, because that is going to seem like a holiday resort by the time I am done with you." Her words ended in a growl as the man she was standing next to toppled over gurgling the last of his life away due to his torn throat. The area fell silent as the man's body hit the ground, only to have the silence broken with the bandit's final gurgle, before it fell silent.

All hell broke loose, screams of terror filled the air as Naru dashed about and quickly subdued the remaining bandits. A few minutes later silences fell upon the clearing once more. Smiling to herself as she dusted off her hands she glanced back at the now five bandits she'd 'seen' to. "All right you lazy jerks, you can get up now ya know."

Several puffs of smoke clouded the clearing momentarily before giggling erupted from within the smoke. The 'bandits' that had been lying about the glade dropped their henges and moved towards the original. "Told you you'd get it in the neck if you said that." One of her clones said to the one who'd been the bandit that ran his mouth. "That was tame ya know... You should have heard him earlier tonight..." The clone shuddered involuntarily, as if remembering something horrid before she continued. "Sorry boss, I toned it down as much as I could." Naru simply nodded lightly. "I'm sure you've dealt with it already, anyway, you guys get these thugs outa here, and I'll deal with our company." The three clones nodded as if already aware of of the presence watching them.

Karis swore quietly as she saw the girl's red glowing eyes turn to look directly at her. Jumping down from her hiding place she landed lightly in the clearing. "The rumors never said you were a sensor..." The elder female bit out.

"Nii-san never lets anyone go alive who knows." The red head said as she gave a shrug of indifference. "Not that it matters really, people will know soon enough." Karis stood speechless for a moment, she certainly wasn't expecting that from the ten year old. Shaking her head a little she drew a kunai and got into a ready stance. "Hope you're ready to die little girl, because I've got a date with a copy ninja and you're in the way."

They stared at one another, Karis with a confidant smirk and Naru looking quite shocked. That is until she started giggling uncontrollably. "You? Date Nii-san?" She raised a hand to her mouth, in a failed attempt to contain her mirth. "And... Y-You're so serious... Ab-Ab-About it..." As Naru continued to laugh in Karis' face the elder woman grew increasingly annoyed with the red head.

Cheeks flushed red Karis muttered half to herself. "That's not what I ment..." But the red head was too caught up in her giggle fit and failed to hear her. "As if s-someone... L-Like you h... Has a chance w-with Nii-san ya know..." Enraged by this point Karis flashed through several seals before yelling. "You little twerp, eat this!" Karis opened her mouth and fired a condensed beam of energy from her mouth at Naru.

Using her flexibility to her advantage the red head twisted out of the way as the beam passed through where she had been standing moments before. "Hmpf, no need to get so upset ya know, it's only the truth..." The red head looked herself over briefly before blinking and looking back at Karis.

Karis stared back at the red head, blinking in confusion as she noticed Naru's eyes had changed once again, her red fox like eyes now having twin bands of gold ringing her iris' and slitted pupils. "_What the fuck is going on... First her eyes turn red... Now they have gold bands..._"

Naru sounded confused, her brows furrowing slightly before she pouted. "Why did that happen... Well, at least these eyes work well at night... Everything normally loo-" She stopped abruptly as she heard a deafening roar of jubilation in her head.

"**I was right! First that Yōton user and now this Ranton user!" **Naru all but fell over at the sound of joy coming from the Kyūbi, he sounded like he had just found the last piece of a very tricky puzzle and completed the puzzle. "_Huh? What does that Yōton user have to do with this?_" The red head queried the fox within her head. "**Think about it Kit, that Yōton user is what caused the change in your eyes, and this Ranton user just activated them...**"

And think she did, or at least she tried, a rather confused and angered voice cut into the conversation she had been having in her head, rudely interrupting. "What the fuck... How many timed do your damned eyes change!?" Karis all but screeched at the younger girl, still trying to comprehend what she was seeing. Naru sighed in annoyance at the interruption. "Not that it is any of your business, but I didn't cause this change, you did." At her own comment Naru face palmed, groaning faintly to herself at her own comment. "_Of course, elemental Kekkei Genkai trigger my eyes. My eyes let me see how Chakra is molded and manipulated..._" Naru gave a fox like grin as she eyed Karis, the gold bands surrounding her iris' and pupils glowing brightly. "So... You said something about killing me, ya know..."

Karis rose a palm to her face and groaned into it. "_What the fuck is with this kid..._" She was unable to continue to contemplate the matter further as she suddenly found herself being forced to dodge some projectiles. Several Kunai, charged with what could only be the same energy she just attacked the red head with. The blades crackled noisily as they flew past the elder woman as she dodged out of the way. She glanced after the blades before looking back at the red head, once again shocked by what was happening. "_She... What?..._"

Naru was partically jumping for joy, she had actually done it, her eyes, not only let her see chakra being moulded and manipulated but apparently let her copy another person's Kekkei Genkai. Well, elemental ones at least, she'd never noticed anything different with Kakashi's Sharingan or the Hyūga Byakugan. Her joy was quickly cut short however as she noticed the drain on her chakra from using the technique. "_Hrm... Seems it comes at a cost, I shouldn't be supprised though, my natural affinities are Wind and Air, Ranton is Water and Lightening..._" Her chakra reserves were large, even by a Jōnin's stand point so the drawback didn't bother her too much. "_So at a higher cost of chakra than normal, I can copy her Kekkei Genkai with my eyes... That is so awesome ya know!_"

Naru couldn't keep the foxy smirk from her features, which only grew as she felt the Kyūbi's satisfaction emanating from within her. "**Definitely an ability making you worthy of being my container Kit.**" Naru rolled her eyes at his statement, she knew she was worthy, even without discovering the cool new ability of her eyes. She returned her attention to the stunned Karis who was simply standing there staring at the red head.

"_That was my Ranton... But how... Nothing ever indicated this from the rumours, no Kekkei Genkai of any sort was mentioned, let alone her own Ranton..._" Karis wasn't prepared for what had happened, and was starting to get more than a little concerned. She started running through hand seals, that to her growing surprise Naru copied seal for seal. "Ranton: Doragon no Tsume!" Karis yelled the jutsu only to have Naru do the same and fire the same attack back at her. Karis held her left hand in front of herself, her right gripping her left wrist. Her fingers were spread and in a claw like shape. From her palm shot the condensed beam of energy, the tip of which was shaped like a dragon's claw. The only difference with Naru was that she had her right hand held before herself, and her left gripping at her right wrist.

The two beams collided, briefly grappling one another before exploding, due to Naru being closer as she finished her jutsu later, the explosion blew the red head back into the tree line, while only knocking Karis back a few feet. Karis being the first to recover quickly ran through another series of seals before pulling her hand up before herself, a small ball of condensed energy quickly forming and building up. She pulled her free hand up to her mouth and yelled. "Ranton: Arashi no iki!" She blew into her second hand, against the ball of energy, causing it to explode out before her in a cone of energy. The jutsu tore through the forest, destroying everything in its path. By the time Karis stopped the jutsu she was panting heavily and the forest before her was destroyed, nothing but debris remained before her.

Grinning triumphantly she turned to rejoin her comrade. Only she was stopped in her tracks by the sight before her, the tree line that had been behind her was littered with dozens of glowing red eyes banded with gold. A soft gasp of fear escaped the kunoichi though she quickly recovered, reaching for her kunai pouch and throwing several at the pairs of eyes watching her, only to have them blink out and reappear elsewhere. "What are you!?" The fear in Karis' voice was impossible to miss as the eyes slowly moved closer. "No! Stay away!" Karis backed up, her body trembling, she'd never encountered another ninja with such shocking abilities, and those eyes... It felt like they were staring into her soul. "_That was my strongest jutsu, and it didn't even phase her..._"

A soft voice rang out from the surrounding forest. "I am a ninja of Konoha ya know, that is what I am. What are you hrm?" As Naru finished speaking she and her clones finished their hand seals before yelling "Fūsui Rappa no Jutsu!" The combination jutsu of wind and water ploughed into the clearing, into the nukenin and off into the destroyed area of the forest.

Karis saw the giant wave bearing down upon her and just stood there gaping at it, a lone thought roaming through her head as the wave crashed into her and dragged her away into unconsciousness. "_All this at such a young age... She's a monster..._"

A sickening crunch caused Naru to wince in sympathy. "_That sounded like it hurt..._" The red head dropped back into the clearing before darting off in Karis' direction. The red head found Karis slumped on her side, back to the tree she was beneath. Frowning Naru checked over the unconscious woman before sighing softly in relief. The elder woman was alive, and seemed to be okay. A broken arm for sure, and probably some damage to her ribs, but otherwise outwardly okay. Naru formed several one handed seals as she rested her other hand upon Karis' forehead before murmuring softly. "Fūinjutsu: Chakura Yokusei Shiiru, nettowaaku." From beneath her palm a seal bloomed out across Karis' body, an intricate scrawl of markings, before it faded from view. Naru then relieved the elder woman of her ninja tools before binding Karis to the tree. "Right, well 'I' have a 'date' with Nii-san, so you can just sleep here till we come collect you." With that the red head darted off, leaving Karis there as she rushed off to assist Kakashi.

* * *

**~With Kakashi~**

Kakashi glanced about, once again that damned Iwa ninja had disappeared under the ground, and he knew what was coming next, moving already he started to dodge the mass field of spiked pillars that shot out of the ground at him, trying and failing to impale him once more.

Krishna watched the copy ninja being chased about the clearing trying to avoid being impaled. "_I've recovered enough, time to finish this before Karis gets back and gives me an earful for taking our sweet time..._" Dropping from the tree Krishna headed into the clearing, preparing to once more engage Kakashi.

Naru had arrived right as Krishna had dropped into the clearing, though she herself had stayed back, waiting to see what was going on. She could feel three chakra signatures in the clearing, though one was getting rather small, an indicator that the person would soon be out of chakra and thus be out of the fight. She nodded lightly to herself before a devious smirk cross her lips. "_Oooh, that could be good..._"

Once again more spikes of earth shot out of the ground to impale Kakashi, once again failing to hit the copy ninja as a leaf was found at the tip of one of the earthen spikes. Rich cursed to himself silently before shaking his head and trying to find the Konoha ninja. Spreading his senses through the ground he raised a brow when he felt footsteps approaching. Slipping from his hiding spot he rose out of the ground and eyed the new comer, only to grin sadistically at the sight. "You managed to nab the brat then huh?" He growled out, his breathing slightly heavy due to his exertion.

Kakashi eyed the new comer from his hiding place and frowned, the woman was dragging a bound and gagged red head along behind her. Karis grinned at Rich, gold bands flashing within her eyes before she glanced directly at where Kakashi was. Kakashi's brow raised at that, surprise catching him off guard for a moment. "Yeah, nabbed this little fucking brat. She was starting to piss me off, little bitch can really move when she needs to." Karis rather roughly threw the bound Naru before the pair of males as she continued. "She has some rather interesting abilities. We could get quite a bit if we sold her... Heck, if we could recruit her it would be good."

Krishna frowned, something wasn't sitting right with him, Karis new better then to just walk into the glade when Rich was fighting, though if what the brunette was saying was true...

It was at that point that Rich cut back in again, brows furrowing slightly. "She don't look like much, you sure she's all you're saying she is?" At this Karis simply scoffed. "You're fucking kidding right? This little brat almost beat me, she's dangerous, and only ten to top it off." Rich smirked at Karis' comment, shaking his head a little at the woman. "Pfft, you probably went easy on her 'cause she's just a kid... Cute one at that." The gruff tone of Rich's voice was slowly returning to normal, the faint panting due to his earlier fighting easing.

Krishna spoke up finally, cutting into the pair's conversation. "I thought the plan was to kill her, not take her alive. I don't want to have to take care of some brat while we look for a buyer..." Karis blinked a little at that, her gaze turning to look at Krishna as she spoke. "Well yeah... But... I could take care of her... I mean... We could get a l-"

Karis didn't get a chance to continue, Krishna disappeared from where they had been standing and reappeared before Karis, katana drawn and bearing down on the woman only to be blocked by a kunai the woman quickly drew from her weapon pouch. "What the fuck?!" Karis screeched at Krishna, causing Rich to suddenly go on guard too.

"The game's up kid, nice try though, seems your abilities are a lot more impressive then we'd been led to believe." Krishna's soft voice ran out a small smirk tugging at Krisnha's lips. "The eyes were the final give away for me, as for your attitude, hmpf, Karis would never talk to me like that. That woman fawns over me." Rich growled, starting to run through several hand seals.

Naru sighed faintly, dropping her henge and rolling away from Krishna before enhancing her kunai with Ranton energy and throwing it at Krishna. The nukenin had to jump away, shock evident in Krishna's eyes, even Rich was shocked, stopping his seals altogether in his surprise.

"Well, if that game's up, I guess we should start round two. Mind you, I hope Nii-san didn't wear you both out as much as it seems he did... 'Cause that'd really be disap-" Naru stopped abruptly as Kakashi reappeared in a swirl of leaves. "Nii-san!"

Kakashi gave Naru an eye smile before getting serious once more. "Naru, he's my opponent, you take the earth user. That one is substantially better then I'd expect from the company he keeps." Naru nodded gently, murmuring a soft. "Hai Sensei." Before dropping into her father's taijutsu stance.

Kakashi nodded lightly at Naru and rushed in, engaging Krishna with a drawn Kunai charging the blade with lightening. Naru followed Kakashi's example and rushed at Rich, Kunai drawn and charged with Ranton energy.

Rich grinned at the red head before disappearing back under the ground before starting to fire a barrage of earth shards at the red head, peppering her body with sharp shards of rock, only for the body to disperse in a cloud of smoke. "_Oh come on! Not the little one too, I just had to put up with the damned copy ninja doing this, now her too?_"

Naru tilted her head a little before smiling to herself. "_That's why Nii-san was having trouble, that fat guy hides under the ground and attacks from relative safety, so Nii-san can't find him!_" A soft giggle escaped the red head before she ran through several hand seals and all but screamed at the top of her lungs, more for the effect then anything. "Ranton: Doragon no Tsume!" A rather large beam of energy shot out of the 'bound' Naru's hand and rose up into the air before slamming into the ground where Rich had been hiding, thanks to a last second Kawarimi with a large rock, Rich managed to escape the attack.

Kakashi and Krishna stopped rather abruptly to look at the red head who just used a Ranton jutsu and gaped, Kakashi's lone eye going wide while both of Krishna's all but fell out of the missing nin's head. "Well... That's new..." Kakashi murmured breathlessly before turning to look at Krishna who muttered quietly. "Some kid you've got there Kakashi..."

Rich was panting, that had scared the crap out of him, he expected this to be easy, the kid was only ten, and yet, here she was firing off a Ranton jutsu like nobody's business. Cursing colourfully to himself he pushed himself to his feet before glancing about for the red head.

"This Ranton stuff is neat! And so pretty, ya know." Naru's voice cut across the quiet as she reappeared behind Rich her fist striking the male nin in the back, her fist crackling with Ranton energy. Rich was thrown across the glade as if hit with a minor exploding tag, his entire body going numb as he bounced across the glade before rolling to a stop.

Krishna blinked again at the red head before voicing the question that was nagging at the back of the missing nin's mind. "You mean you've never seen it before tonight?" Naru simply nodded as she walked over to the motionless Rich, giggling lightly. "Nope! Seen Yōton before, but Ranton was a first, it really is pretty..." As she finished she held up her hand crackling with the condensed energy before waving her hand and releasing the restrained energy. "Though it is kinda dangerous ya know... Burns the user if they arn't careful." Naru nodded lightly to herself before she formed several open handed seals as she pressed her other palm to Riches neck. "Fūinjutsu: Chakura Yokusei Shiiru, nettowaaku." Once again the same scrawl of seals bloomed out from beneath the red head's hand before fading from view.

"_Of course she is a seals expert too... What is this kid... Looks like this is over, I'll have to pull back, I can't risk myself for these two again..._" Krishna made three one handed seals before smirking at the pair. "Was nice playing with you Kakashi, but seeing as these two are out, I'm going to have to leave you be. Can't have myself getting caught just yet now can I?" With that the nukenin disappeared, seeming to fade away into the night.

Kakashi frowned a little, shaking his head as he glanced over at Naru. "Well he knows more than anyone else that has gotten away... Looks like we'll have to up your training again." This got a groan out of Naru as she summoned several clones to help her drag the far larger male back to their camp. "The female is back that way." She said pointing in the direction she had come from. "You should get her, she's kinda hurt a little, and I won't be able to promise her injuries don't get worse." Kakashi simply nodded and shushin'd off to collect the female missing nin.

* * *

**The following day, two hours from the capital...**

Kakashi couldn't help but chuckle as he watched the battalion of red heads marching their prisoners down the road towards the capital. The bandits looks besides themselves, any time one of the clones look at one of them the bandit in question simply flinched and looked the other way as if trying to run away simply by avoiding the young girls gaze.

They had discussed what they would do once they had both gotten back to the camp, Naru later then Kakashi seeing as she dragged Rich the entire way back. Kakashi had told the Merchant they would be 'escorting' the bandits to the capital with the merchant, and they would be handed off to the city guard when they arrived. And once the merchant had reached his destination they would leave with the two missing ninja and head back to Konoha. Naru had been a little disappointed that they would be bringing the two missing ninja back with them, but had quickly cheered when she was put in charge of their 'guests' and making sure they got to the city with no escapes.

Naru was walking along side Kakashi, or at least he assumed it was the original Naru seeing as she was sporting a rather large stick and was swapping with other clones at random to poke or brandish it threateningly at the bandits they were escorting. "Naru, you know you're going to have to talk about what happened right? With your eyes..." His tone was hushed, so as to not let others over hear.

Naru bobbed her head almost idly, her attention mostly elsewhere. "I was gonna wait till we got back to the village, so I could tell Jiji at the same time. Would make it easier if I didn't have to repeat, ya know?" She tilted her head to peer over at Kakashi for a moment before she murmured quietly. "But if you like we could talk about it tonight... I think it's pretty neat really."

Kakashi nodded lightly to himself before he spoke up. "That's fine, we can wait, I just wanted to make sure it wasn't something that would cause problems." At the shake of Naru's head he gave the red head an eye smile. "Good, because I can't have my little sister getting into trouble now, can I?"

Naru whined softly before shaking her head with a faint giggle. "Kinda hard when it's out to find me ya know! But yeah... I know it would be nice to have a break! Hence why I have classes... Blegh... Classes are so boring ya know..."

Kakashi snickered softly at that, before outright laughing as Naru switched with a clone and smacked a bandit upside the head with her stick before yelling at the bandit in question about appropriate language about ladies.

* * *

**A week later...**

Hiruzen frowned slightly as Kakashi made his verbal report. The Hokage's gaze drifted over to his Granddaughter figure who, while was remaining calm and professional outwardly, was all but ready to explode if the look in her eyes was anything to go by. Hiruzen looked back at Kakashi who made no outward change, though Hiruzen could swear he could hear Kakashi's grin in his voice.

"... That sums up my mission report Hokage-sama, I'll have everything in the written report on your desk in the morning." The Hokage nodded at the pair. "Well done, seems like you not only completed the mission successfully, but it was at least B-rank over the C-rank you were hired for. Your pay will reflect such Kakashi, as for you Naru, your account will be updated." Hiruzen smiled at Naru's annoyance, she hated having to get only a little here and there to spend knowing that the majority of her pay was being saved away, out of her reach till she was an 'official' ninja. A soft huff escaped the girl as Hiruzen continued. "For now that will be all, thank you."

Naru abruptly glomped the Hokage, leaping over his desk and tackling him with a hug. Two of the three ANBU dropped their concealment as they started to laugh, moving to stand next to Kakashi who was also chuckling at the sight, the third had moved to intercept the red head, but to the ANBU's shock, the red head had been faster and ended up, arms coiled about the Hokage's neck as she hugged him. Weasel stood there speechless, katana in hand, pointed at the red head, or rather where the red head would have been had he been a little quicker.

Naru poked out her tongue in a rather childish display at weasel before whining at the Hokage. "Jiji! Why do I only get pocket money! I totally did like... All the work! Even Kakashi said so." The red head pouted at the elder man before sighing softly as he simply chuckled at her childishness. "Come now Naru, you know that isn't going to work now." Huffing faintly Naru relented her hold on the Hokage's neck and slid into his lap for a moment before smiling up at the old man. "Jiji! I discovered something neat about... Uh..." She trailed off a moment, glancing at each of the ANBU in turn. The two next to Kakashi disappeared though Weasel just stood there staring dumbly at the red head.

The Hokage gave an amused smile at Weasel before giving him the signal to be dismissed. "You are sure Hokage-sama?" Weasel sounded unsure, though sheathed his blade. Hiruzen nodded lightly as he gave the ANBU a reassuring smile. "Yes Weasel, I'll be fine. Join Bear and Bird they'll let you know when you can return." Nodding Weasel did as he was bid and shushin'd out.

Naru hopped off the Hokage's lap and moved to the center of the room before murmuring a soft '"Fūin." A massive seal network spread out from her body, coating the walls of the Hokage's office before fading from view. "There! Level two privacy seal activated. Now! Guess what I did Jiji?!" The red head grinned brightly at the old man, not even giving him a chance to think of a response, let alone speak as she hurriedly continued. "I found out what my eyes do! It's so cool, you'd never guess in like... A million years ya know!" Naru activated her eyes as she spoke, as if to reinforce what she was talking about. "I totally used Ranton! It was so awesome, you should have seen me. My eyes like... Let me see how chakra works ya know... And a side effect, or maybe the main purpose, it lets me copy elemental Kekkei Genkai... Well while they are active at least... I lost the ability to use Ranton after I deactivated my eyes... And when I activated them again I was still unable. So I think it's like, copy it while they are active and can use it while I keep them active, but if I deactivate them, they clear or something, not storing what I copied ya know! Kinda disappointing 'cause the Ranton stuff was so pretty!"

The Hokage was stunned, if it were even possible his jaw likely would have fallen off by the look he was giving the red head. He quickly glanced back and forth between the pair, to get confirmation from Kakashi, who simply nodded. He didn't know what to say, the fabled Professor was speechless at this development.

The case was not the same for Naru however, as she continued to ramble on about how cool her eyes were now that she knew what they did better. I mean, who wouldn't like eyes that let you copy Ranton, Yōton or whatever else she encountered on her travels. "So like, I was kinda hoping we could keep the Kumo ninja, the woman... So I could practice with my eyes more. It would be really amazing if I could develop them more, and she's like, the only person I know in the village who has an elemental Kekkei Genkai ya know?"

This statement drew a resounding no from both Kakashi and the Hokage. "Not happening, even if she was an ally and we trusted her, she couldn't be allowed to, not to mention she is a missing nin and tried to kill you." Hiruzen said. Naru pouted a little at that but nodded none the less, she figured it probably wouldn't happen.

"Well I guess that counts out training my eyes for now I guess. But that's okay! I have plenty more I can work on!" Naru smiled softly to herself before bobbing her head. "So... Uhm... About my eyes... Still an S-Rank secret right?" The Hokage shook his head slowly with a rather grave look on his face as he spoke. "I'm afraid not Naru-chan, I'm going to have to make it an SS-Rank secret now." Naru gaped faintly, now she had to put up with an even higher rank secret about herself. She sighed dramatically before shaking her head a little. "The Chūnin exams once I'm a ninja right? That's when I can show off? And you'll tell everybody who I am? Right?" Hiruzen nodded at that, a small smile tugging at his lips. "I'll announce who you are if you prove just how strong you are. I expect you to win the entire thing though."

Naru cheered as she darted about the room and glomped Kakashi. The pair of men laughed at the red heads reaction. "Hear that Nii-san?! Once I become a Chūnin the world will be taken by storm ya know! Look out Elemental Nations! Naruto Mito Uzumaki Namikaze is coming!" The pair of men laughed at the red heads antics, shaking their heads at the girl before Kakashi spoke up. "Come on then Naru-chan, if you want to win those exams we better increase your training even more!" This rather abruptly rained on Naru's parade, causing the red head to slump in defeat as she mumbled quietly about mask wearing slave drivers trying to kill her as Kakashi and Naru made their way out of the Hokage's office.

* * *

A week later finds Naru and Hinata standing before the barrier protecting Naru's training area. Naru smiles a little nervously to herself before murmuring a faint Kai to lower the barrier and motion Hinata through. "Quick, quick, I can't leave it down for long, it'll be troublesome ya know." Hinata couldn't help but giggle softly at Naru's use of Shikamaru's favourite word though she did as she was bid, entering the lowered barrier which Naru quickly brought back up with a rather long string of hand seals.

Naru passed through the barrier and moved into the clearing where she spent most of her time training Hinata following quietly behind. "So like, seeing as we can't sleep over at your place, we can spend the day here and I dunno, like, train or something, ya know?" Naru turned to look at her friend who was standing mouth slightly agape, a cute little astonished look on her face.

"N-Naru... You... You own this place?!" Naru nodded slowly, a brow slowly raising in question though before she could speak Hinata continued. "Y-You know who's house this is right?!" Hinata turned to look at her friend only to see the red head barely containing her laughter.

Naru nodded slowly, barely containing her mirth. "Hai, my parents left it to me when they passed away. And it's the only thing I can claim from their will till I 'come of age'." Naru fell over at that point, hands grasping at her sides as she laughed at the look on Hinata's face.

Hinata couldn't believe what she was hearing, Naru was trusting her with not only her secret place of training, but her heritage too. "Th-Then... Y... You know... B-B-But wh..." Hinata trailed off, cheeks flushing a deep hew of red as she glanced away from the red head on the ground. "It's n-not that funny!"

Naru calmed a little, before waving a hand at the Hyūga heiress, as if dismissing the other girl's concerns. "It's f-fine... The look on your face when you r-realised who my parents were... I'm pretty sure people would pay money to see that..." She giggled a little more before sitting up and looking up at her friend. "Anyway! I'll fix the barrier later on if you like so you can enter without it seeming like you're just walking through a forest. But seeing as we're here, did you wanna spar or something?"

Hinata tilted her head a little, peering at the red head as the girl all but dismissed her parentage as if it didn't matter. Shrugging it aside for now the Hyūga heiress nodded lightly. "Ano... I guess we could..."

Naru gave Hinata a foxy grin as she jumped back to her feet and darted back to the center of the training field. "Okay! Before we start though a few rules; No holding back, no academy style, and unless stated otherwise, only things covered in the academy. So Kawarimi, Henge and Bunshin are acceptable. That fine with you Hinata? Oh! One more thing, nothing that happens here can leave this field. I'm sorry if that is a problem Hinata, but I can't have anything leaving this training ground till I'm a Genin at least." Naru slipped into her father's Taijutsu stance, one hand forward, palm up, fingers straight out, the other almost loose at her side.

Hinata nodded lightly at that as she murmured quietly, slipping into her Clan's gentle fist style. "Hai, that is acceptable with me Naru, and I'm honoured that you would trust me with your secrets like this." The heiress blushed a little at the implications of everything Naru had said, and that she would no doubt see today. Activating her Byakugan she dashed in to engage the red head.

Naru grinned almost evilly as she darted forward too, while she was holding back against her friend, she wasn't about let her friend simply win out right. A soft giggle escaped the red head as she dodged Hinata's blows, even going so far as to parry one or two before they could reach her, deflecting them away from her body. Slowly the red head's joy slowly died, concern briefly replacing it before outrage. She stopped abruptly, grasping Hinata's wrists, and halting her friend too.

"N-Naru? What's wrong?" Hinata was panting softly with the exertion, even if it had been only a few minutes, she had been trying her hardest against her friend, not willing to let her friend down by hold back like she did in the academy. Not that she needed to, every blow had been avoided, it was like she had been fighting air, every time she thought she would strike Naru all she would hit would be air.

Naru was frowning, brow s furrowed together in annoyance as she all but growled at the Hyūga heiress. "It's wrong, you're doing it wrong Hinata... That cannot be right..." She shook her head a little as she eyed Hinata, waiting for some kind of explination.

Hinata blinked in confusion at the red head, wincing a little as the grip on her wrists tightened. "A-Ano... Naru that h-hurts..." She sighed softly as Naru released her wrists before murmuring quietly, almost afraid of her friend, the stormy look in the red head's eyes something she'd never seen before. "Wh-What's wrong? I d-don't understand what y-y-you mean..."

Naru ground her teeth together in annoyance, raising a hand she pinched the bridge of her nose before murmuring in a soft growl. "Your stance, your clan's style... Have you not noticed? It's like your body is trying to fight against itself..." She shook her head a little. "It's disgusting that no one has even noticed this, or if they have simply brushed it aside... Here, tell you what, let's fix it. You're like me, flexible, able to bend and twist in ways many others can't. But your clan's style is too rigid. You need to be like... Uhm... Flowing water... Flow about your opponent and strike them despite their resistance. Here like this. Block my punch." Naru did it slowly, to make sure Hinata saw what happened.

Hinata gasped softly in shock as she watched Naru twisted her body as Hinata went to block, the fist that would have simply been a simple glancing blow had she tried to dodge slipped past her defence and struck her squarely in the chest. Hinata staggered back a few steps before stopping. She glanced down at her chest, then back at Naru. "You held back... Even I could feel that... Y-you did it so I could see... But also so you wouldn't h-hurt me..." She smiled softly, shaking her head a little. "You really are strong, why aren't you a ninja already?"

Naru laughed at that, a hand lifting to the back of her head, lightly rubbing at it as she murmured lightly. "Jiji and Nii-san want me to wait till I've finished the academy so I'll be with people who are my own age. My parents had strong enemies so he wants to make sure I have friends who can back me up when I have a Genin team under my sensei, who ever that ends up being." Naru gave a small shrug before she continued. "Anyway, if I was I'd likely be Tokubetsu Jōnin by now. I'm a seal master so that alone would get me that promotion. As for Chūnin... I'm way above that level."

Hinata all but gaped at that admission, before shaking her head a little. "No way... Really? How are you so strong?!" Hinata all but fell on her butt as Naru grinned at her foxily and formed a single handed seal and spawned hundreds of clones about them. A speechless Hinata just sat there, her still active Byakugan letting her see all of the clones at once.

"This is how. These are shadow clones. I can summon more ya know, but I figured this would be fine as a display of strength. I also know a lot of Ninjutsu two Taijutsu and I am working on my own style too ya know. It's more a defensive one as I have my father's for offence." Naru raised a finger to her chin, lightly tapping it before she continued in what could be mistaken as dismissive tone. "My mission record alone says I'm a Jōnin; I have three C-rank, fourteen B-rank and seven A-Rank. I have an S rank or two but I'm not allowed to talk about those..."

Hinata was still taking it all in. The young girl before her, her best friend, was impossibly strong already, not to mention rapidly improving. Hinata was a little scared at that point, she couldn't even fathom where her friend would end up with how strong she would be in the coming future.

"Hinata? Hinata are you there? Helloooo?" Naru leaned over and poked her friend on the forehead. Hinata jerked aback mumbling a softly. "Ano... S-Sorry Naru... It's j-just a lot to take in... You really a-are strong huh?" Naru nodded lightly before reaching up and tucking a loose strand of her red hair behind her left ear. "Mhmm. I'd like to help you get strong too ya know... If you'll let me. Like... Help you customise the Gentle Fist to fit you better ya know?"

Hinata smiled and bobbed her head lightly in the affirmative before rising to her feet and dusting herself off. "Okay, so where should we start?" Hinata shuddered involuntarily at the grin Naru gave her. "N-Naru?"

"From the beginning! Er... The basics ya know! Well, of your clan's style. Work from the ground up! It'll take a while, like, months to adjust, though I think you'll get it in no time! It's feel natural to you after, unlike now." Naru nodded lightly to herself as a dawning look crossed Hinata's features.

"How d-did... But... Why does it? It's the clan's style..." Hinata queried her friend only to have the red head shrug lightly. "Honestly I'm not sure, though if I had to guess I'd say that your clan is an earth elemental primary clan, while you would likely be air... Or maybe water... Not sure, we should check though." Naru mused thoughtfully for a moment, chewing upon her lower lip as she glanced aside. "I'll ask Kakashi for some more Chakra paper so we can test you. Then maybe we could work some Ninjutsu into your repertoire or even your taijutsu, to give it an extra kick."

Hinata nodded lightly as she glanced about at all the clones again before murmuring lightly. "So shall we then? Sooner we start the sooner I can get stronger right?" Naru nodded and gave her friend a foxy grin. "Don't you worry! We'll do this like... Every weekend and by the time you master it you'll be so strong your father won't even recognise you!"

And so, for the two days every weekend, Naru and Hinata would come to Naru's property and train Hinata in her own adaption of the Gentle Fist. Or at least Naru called it training, Hinata called it torture, even if Hinata did appreciate every second of the torture she was enduring.

* * *

**Naru's Second Academy year...**

Kakashi had accepted another mission this on its own wasn't all that odd, but for the first time in recent years he hadn't taken Naru. The fight had been explosive; Naru had screamed and raged at Kakashi for his decision, before finally stomping off to her room. His reasons, or so she had felt at the time, were stupid. What did it matter that he'd been assigned a team, she was officially his apprentice and she could handle herself and people would find out about her skills eventually anyway. But Kakashi had been resolute, denying her every time she tried to reason with him. In the end he cut her off before she could continue, the last words she had heard from him that night were simple. "It's too soon for you Naru-chan, you can't risk showing your full potential, not yet, and not with your newly discovered eyes." It had taken her a week, but she eventually calmed down enough to finally come to terms with everything he had said to her, or more to the point the comment about her eyes. Only four people knew about her eyes. Kakashi, the Hokage and the Medic-nin who checked her after the fateful mission that awoke her Dōjutsu and of course, herself. Well five if you counted the missing ninja that had gotten away. Reluctantly the red head had accepted that Kakashi was right, she just couldn't risk people finding out about them yet.

She had planned to show Hinata her eyes, but she just hadn't gotten the courage to do it yet, despite how much the Hyūga had improved over the past few months she just couldn't force the girl to keep an SS-Rank secret. Still, they were getting on wonderfully, even to the point Hinata had finally gotten her father to agree to the sleep over that Hinata had promised before they had started training.

* * *

Naru couldn't help but smile to herself as she walked through the village in the direction of the clan compounds. Well, the smile lasted most of her trip, till the Hyūga compounds gates came into view. Hinata was standing there, looking a little nervous with a rather imposing looking male standing beside her, clearly the girl's father. Naru swallowed nervously as she approached, pulling her smile back that had fallen from her lips.

Hiashi Hyūga, head of the Hyūga clan and father to her best friend. The imposing figure of the male was more than enough to cause concern the red head as he stared down at her unblinkingly. She bowed politely, squirming a little in her sandals as she stared at the ground beneath her feet. "Good morning Hyūga-sama, it is an honour to be allowed the privilege of staying within your compound, for even just the one night. Thank you very much for your generosity."

Hiashi stared down at the girl his daughter had so much praise for. He nodded politely at the greeting, though let the silence last a little longer before he turned on his heel and headed back into the compound. "Welcome Naruto Uzumaki, I hope you'll find your stay comfortable." With little more than that Hiashi disappeared from view, into the main branch's building.

Naru sighed softly in relief as she straightened and looked over at her friend and gave a sheepish grin. "Well that was completely nerve wracking ya know... You weren't kidding when you said your dad is scary..."

Hinata giggled softly before nodding at her friends words. "Come on, let's get inside and get your thi... Naru... Did you even bring anything?" She brought a hand to her forehead and lightly tapped it as Naru pulled a small scroll from her pocket and held it up. "All in here Hinata, I'm ready to do whatever when ever!"

Hinata led her best friend into the compound and gave the red head a 'grand tour' of the complex before leading Naru into her bedroom. They settled on the floor, Naru peering about as she murmured softly. "This place is amazing, and I thought my dad's house was impressive, you have an entire compound..." Hinata blushed a little at that before giving the red head a small smile. "It's not that great... Is it?" At Naru's nod Hinata blushed further.

"It is pretty amazing Hinata, I'm just sorry about everything you had to endure here. I guess I can understand why you don't like it here ya know... But maybe you can change things for the better. And when I'm Hokage I can help! And with you as the Hyūga clan head we can fix all the problems you've told me about!"

Hinata smiled softly before bobbing her head lightly as she sighed. "Hai, that would be good. But that can wait, what are we going to do about training? We're at my home this weekend, so how are we going to train?" Hinata looked a little worried, her pale lavender-almost white eyes, searching her friends face.

Naru grinned before giving a nonchalant shrug. "We can do it here. You wouldn't have been able to hide it forever, and its better this way. If your father knows how strong you are then he can adjust how he treats you ya know?" Naru smiled reassuringly at her friend before rolling her shoulders once more. "'Sides if we don't train at least a little won't it kind of blow your reasons for having me stay?"

Hinata crinkled her nose in a cute way before nodding. "Ano... I guess you are right... But in front of father?" Naru shook her head a little. "We'll just use the sparring area you use with your dad, and if he comes and watches, no harm done right? We plan to let him know, why not let him find out himself." Hinata nodded slowly at this before smiling back at the red head. "Okay, that sounds good. Shall we?" Hinata slowly rose to her feet before leaving her room for the direction of the sparring area.

Naru grunted softly in pain as a rather shocked Hinata hit her. "Gah! That really hurts." Naru gently rubbed her shoulder where she'd been struck. Hinata opened her mouth to respond but was cut off before she could say anything. "See, told you these changes would help." Hinata blushed a little, cheeks flushing a soft hew of pink.

"Do you want to try out the seal now?" Naru cocked her head to the right as she eyed the Hyūga heiress while working her shoulder lightly. "Ano... Are you sure it is a good idea?" Hinata questioned in a soft voice. Naru gave Hinata a foxy grin. "I've been using it since I was six, so I am certain it is, 'sides it's the best way to work on your speed and power without using weights ya know." Hinata nodded slowly, Naru had already explained the pro's and con's while giving a few work arounds for mosft of the drawbacks. "I... I guess so... Did you bring the things you need to do it?" Naru nodded offhandedly beforedropping into a ready stance.

"Ready if you are, though you may want to use your Byakugan, I'm switching fighting style and holding back less this time, don't want to get hit again, once is enough." Hinata giggled softly before poking her tongue out at the red head as she activated her Kekkei Genkai. "Just be gentle with me, I don't want to ruin another set of clothes this morning training with you!" Hinata slipped into her modified Gentle Fist stance. Naru had the decency to blush and give an apologetic smilebefore rushing at her best friend.

Hiashi stood there quietly, his 'eyes' active watching his eldest daughter spar with her best friend. He was shocked, and anyone that knew him would tell just by looking at his schooled features. His daughter, while using the gentle fist, was using some form of deviation of it and not only that, was using it at a level far higher than that of the gentle fist the rest of the clan used that she had been trained in since she was old enough to. "_Unbelievable, this girl has helped Hinata that much... When did th- I see, the weekends when she'd go play with her friend..._" A ever so faint smile tugged at the corners of Hiashi's lips as he continued to watch the spar that, to others eyes would have looked more like an actual fight. "_I have to admit, whatever that red head has done it's incredible, these changes, if they can have such a cast change in my daughter who was viewed as useless and now looks like a rising star... I'm looking forward to seeing her in the future..._" Hiashi had noticed his daughter struggling with the Clan's traditional style, and had been at the point of losing sleep over this fact. He knew Hinata had so much potential, but with the traditional style she never would have gotten anywhere, but with this she could get there he was sure. As for the red head, she had helped his daughter with more than just the fighting style, over the past year and a half Hinata had come out of her shell. To the point that last night she had argued with him about letting the red head stay the night, the memory still brought a smile to his lips. Hiashi had been so shocked that his daughter had argued back he'd conceded and given his permission. Hiashi's attention was pulled from his thoughts as the spar before him heated up further.

Naru had summoned clones, physical ones at that by the looks, and was attacking Hinata from three directions using a fighting style the Clan Head had not seen before. But what shocked him more and pulled him from his thoughts was what Hinata did to counter the joint attack of Naruto and her clones.

"KAITEN!" Hinata all but screamed as she spun about, a pale blue bubble of chakra emanating out from her spinning form before it dispersed as she came to a standstill, panting softly in the middle of a small crater. Naru's clones were abruptly dispelled and Naru was sent flying backwards before crashing into something firm, yet softer then she expected. Naru whined softly, raising a hand to gently rub at her head. "Hinata that is so cheating ya know, you could have at least told me you like, finished it..."

Hinata just stared at her friend, still caught in what she had crashed into and unaware of the fact. "Sorry Naru-chan... It was supposed to be a surprise... And you didn't really give me any choice you know! Three of you at once isn't fair at all!"

Naru giggled softly as she gave a foxy grin at her friend. "Well it certainly was a surprise, I didn't see that coming at all ya know! It's so great that you finished it!" It was at this time that Hiashi cleared his throat, Naru noted that it sounded far too close for comfort. Looking up she stared directly into the male Hyūga's eyes before blushing fiercely. "Hyūga-sama! I'm sorry! I... I.. I d-didn't s-see you there... I... I..."

Hiashi laughed softly as he let the girl down before looking at his daughter, a proud look flickering across his features. "Just be careful, I don't want to have to repair all the damage the pair of you will do if this sparring gets too far out of hand." Also, lunch is ready, so get cleaned up and come have something to eat before you continue." Dusting his robes off Hiashi headed back inside, letting his Byakugan deactivate as he disappeared indoors.

The two girls looked at one another with an equally shocked look, both speaking at  
the same time. "Did he just laugh?!" Silence followed before both girls broke out in laughter as they followed the clan head back inside to go clean up and eat.

* * *

That evening the girl's were locked away in Hinata's room, Hinata was topless lying on her bed with Naru straddling the girl's hips. "Sorry, sorry, I know it tickles a little, but bare with it, if you want it to last it has to be done like this." Hinata squirmed a little as she felt each flick of the brush running across her bare flesh. "At least it o-only has to be d-done once right?" Naru nodded lightly from her perch before realising that Hinata couldn't see her and murmured the affirmative. "Hai, just once, then you can use your chakra to activate it and increase the level of the seal. It'll adjust as needed." Naru leaned back after one last flick of her brush and eyed the seal matrix across her friends back, starting between the girls shoulder blades and spanning down her spine three inches and up to the base of her neck, not to mention flaring out onto her shoulder blades themselves. "Right, all done. Give it a couple of moments to dry and then we'll test it!" Hinata nodded lightly as she felt Naru get off of her and smiled a little. "Thank god that is over, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to stay still any longer." Naru smiled at her friend before giggling. "You twitched every time the brush touched you, I didn't know you were so sensitive!" Hinata rolled her eyes, or rather what Naru thought the Hyūga equivalent would be. "That doesn't leave this room! If you tell anybody you won't live to regret it!"

Naru motioned for Hinata to sit up and face away, she gave her work a once over before nodding lightly. "Okay, so form these seals here and say the level you want to activate. I'd recommend level one for now, at least till you've gotten used to it." Naru showed Hinata the hand seals before Hinata repeated them and did as she was told. The seal on Hinata's back glowed a soft blue before fading from view at which point Hinata collapsed onto her bed with a faint groan. "You never said it took so much chakra... Gosh I feel like I've sparred with you for a week..." Naru raised a hand and lightly rubbed the back of her head as she murmured faintly. "Right... Sorry, I forgot about that... I have such large reserves that it didn't bother me..." Hinata giggled faintly at her friend. "For being so smart you can be so forgetful at times you know?" Naru promptly blushed at that, shaking her head a little. "Nuh uh, that is so not true, I... Simply... Uh..." Naru trailed off, not sure how to respond anymore which caused Hinata to laugh at her friends expense. "Anyway... The seal will work continuously, so even every day things will help train your body. As a test, keep it active for a full two weeks, then deactivate it and try it out. Afterwards activate it again, or if you feel confidant, turn the level up one." Hinata nodded lightly before glancing at the red head, eyeing the girl curiously. "Ano... Naru-chan... What level are you at?" Hinata blinked a little as Naru squirmed glancing away from her. "You don't have to say if you'd rather not..." Naru shook her head slowly. "I'd rather not for now. For now let's just say that it's high enough to scare you..." The pair fell quiet at that, Hinata staring at her friend as yet another tid bit of information was given up, Naru unable to look at her friend scared of what she would see in the Hyūga's eyes.

A soft sigh escaped Naru as she lay there, unable to sleep, her thoughts were stuck on earlier today. She had shown off a lot of her taijutsu skills infront of Hinata's father, and while doing so in front of Hinata wasn't a problem, Hinata's father was still an unknown factor. What worried her more was the knowing look she had been giving during dinner, as if he knew some, or had figured something out about her, and that worried her. It worried her because not only would Kakashi be disappointed in her, but she had no idea what Hiashi would do with the information he may, or may not have about her. Shaking her head a little she sighed once more before rolling onto her side, one hand idly lifting to toy with one of her bangs, coiling it about her fingers. "_I hope this doesn't cause issues later... Hopefully he will leave well enough alone... Though I might have to talk to Jiji about this..._"

She was rather rudely pulled from her thoughts as she heard Hinata shift about in bed before feeling the other girls gaze upon her. "Can't sleep Naru-chan?" Hinata's sleepy voice was barely more than a whisper though that wasn't an issue for Naru. "Mmmm, I'm a little worried about your dad... He saw a lot of my taijutsu skills today that and I guess I'm just worried about Nii-san... He's been gone a long time..." Hinata nodded lightly at her friends words, Naru's fears weren't entirely unjustified. "I don't think otou-san would betray me like that. While the clan does come first most times... He cares a lot for me and Hanabi, even if he has weird ways of showing it." Naru couldn't help but giggle at that, nodding lightly to herself as she rolled over to look over at her friend. "That's true, thank you Hinata. For being my friend and for letting me stay over. It's been a lot of fun." Hinata blushed faintly at Naru's words though smiled in return as she murmured softly in turn. "Thank you for being mine. You've helped me so much over this past year and a half."

Their pair smiled at one another for a while in silence before Naru spoke once more. "We should probably sleep... It's kinda late and your dad wanted to spar with you in the morning before we leave." Hinata poked out her tongue before giving a soft sigh. "Don't remind me, I was kind of hoping that he would let me skip training with him while you were staying here... But I guess after seeing us yesterday he wants to test for himself just how far I am coming." A thoughtful sound escaped Naru before she murmured quietly. "I say you go all out against him. Show him just how hard you've been working. If he doesn't approve of the changes, then his loss. You're going to be one of the best Hyūga this clan has ever produced, and if he fails to see that, then you'll just have to prove to everyone that you can be more then what they think you can." Hinata mumbled incoherently in response, glad for the dark of her room which was hiding her rather pronounced blush, the dark shade of red reaching down her neck. "What was that Hinata? I didn't catch that..." Hinata smiled a little at that before responding in a quiet murmur. "It doesn't matter, but you are right, we should sleep. Sleep well Naru." Hinata smiled softly to herself as her friend returned the sentiment. "And you Hinata"

* * *

The next morning found Naru sitting quietly near the main branch house while Hinata and Hiashi faced off, each in their own starting stance for the gentle fist. Naru smiled to herself as she watched the pair, a hand idly toying with a lock of red hair. "Give him hell Hinata!" Naru smiled at her friend as she got a nod in response.

Hiashi watched his daughter intently, his eyes active. His stance was typical for any Hyūga, well, any normal Hyūga. His daughter was standing in a stance that, while was gentle fist, was rather different. Her entire form looked relaxed, belying just what her stance was. He'd seen his daughter fight yesterday, so he was prepared for what he thought she had to show him. He just wanted to see how viable this new stance of the gentle fist was.

Hinata gave her father a small smile before she leapt forward, her face showing just how serious she was taking this morning's spar. Darting in she attempted to strike her father, falling into the same rhythm she had been fighting in yesterday with Naru. "_Naru, you're evil... You could have at least let me deactiave the seal for the spar with otou-san..._" Using her Byakugan she eyed her friend a moment, who was simply giving her a foxy grin, as if knowing what the Hyūga heiress was thinking.

Hiashi frowned a little to himself, the gesture barely indicated by the slight twitch of his eye brows. "_She's moving a lot slower then she was yesterday... Maybe she is a more tired after the spars with the Uzumaki child then I thought..._" His thoughts proved false though when he moved to strike his daughter as her movements left an opening, only to find his daughter twist to the left causing his strike to miss completely. He leapt back then, and regarded his daughter for a moment longer before looking over at the red head sitting nearby. "What have you done to cause her to be so sluggish? She was moving far faster than this yesterday."

Naru couldn't help but laugh at that. She figured the Clan head would notice something, but after just a few moments and only a few blows being exchanged. Calming herself she gave a light roll of her shoulders before she spoke. "Nothing too much Hyūga-sama. She has simply activated the resistance seal I applied to her last night. She felt it was time to step up her training. It's okay though, she's only at level one."

Hiashi nodded slowly, turning his gaze to peer at his daughter for a moment before looking back at the red head. "_So she really is a true Uzumaki after all... I find it interesting that she only tried to reassure me of the level of the seal rather than her skill with Fūinjutsu._" Nodding slightly he turned to his daughter and bowed his head. "This shall have to wait then. I'll give you two weeks free from our training, this is the time you have to adjust to the seal and practice your Gentle Fist. I wish to see what you can do with it. I doubt I will be disappointed." He gave his daughter a rare smile, before heading back into the house.

Hinata let out a rather loud sigh of relief once her father had slipped from view as she slipped to her knees. "I wasn't sure if I could keep up with the pace he was expecting me to set..." Her slight form trembled a moment before she took a calming breath and rose back to her feet. "Let me go clean up and change and we can go if you like Naru-chan." Hinata received a nod and a smile. "Take your time, I can wait."

* * *

**A Few Weeks Later at the Academy...**

Thock, Thock, Thock. The sound was all but background noise, a slight distraction for the reading red head who was seated on a branch above the tree's attacker. "For all this abuse this tree puts up with its surprising it doesn't hit back." The red head's tone held a hint of amusement though sounded slightly distracted. The sound from below stopped briefly before resuming at a faster pace. "You would be its first victim Naru-chan." Hinata responded, a small smile crossing her features as a foxy grin spread across the red heads. Over the past two years at the academy the pair had become nigh inseparable, to the point that they were together all but when they went home to sleep and even then they spent quite a few nights at either one or the others house.

Hinata paused and looked up at the red head. "We're still alone?" The question pulled Naru's attention from her book to peer down at her pale eyed friend. "Hai, well if you don't count the three ANBU watching the academy." Hinata nodded gently as she shifted her stance from that of her clan's traditional style of the Gentle Fist to the one her friend had helped her develop. It was a combination of the gentle fist and her friend's unique style that her friend had developed based on a Kenjutsu style she knew. Naru currently used it purely as a defensive means, though Hinata could tell it would not stay that way for long. Thanks to her friend's dedication and her clans Kekkei Genkai she was already able to use the new style to devastating effect, much to her father's surprise. Hiashi was so surprised by not only how good his daughter was with her new style, but how aggressive she could be with it, his surprise had earned him a black eye, which he proudly wore like a badge of merit. Whenever someone asked how he had received the injury, he rather proudly informed them that Hinata was the one to gift him with it in a spar, much to the surprise of those he informed.

Tho-Thock Thock, Thock Tho-Thock. Hinata resumed her training, the sounds of strikes once again filling the air as her palms slapped against the tough surface of the tree. The red head in the tree murmured idly to herself as she read, wording out a passage of her book. Her attention was mostly elsewhere despite, or perhaps in spite of, the lazy appearance she was giving, one leg dangling from the branch she was sitting on, back against the tree looking lost in her own world. She was in fact training, she was working on her chakra sensitivity, trying to extend the range she was able to detect sources of chakra while not losing the ability to pick out select signatures of chakra in the sea of people in the area. Hence why she was sitting up a tree reading, giving the outward appearance of doing nothing while she was in fact keeping a feel for anyone coming too close while helping her concentration. While the ability was all but second nature due to her 'abuse' of the shadow clone jutsu it still didn't hurt to practice.

Time passed in silence for the pair, well as silent as it was with Hinata's constant stream of strikes and Naru's occasional soft murmuring. An exasperated sigh escaped Naru after a while as she lowered her book to look pointedly down at Hinata. While the Hyūga heiress didn't make any move to look back at her friend, she smiled at the small victory she had just won. "So you can feel when I am looking at you with my Byakugan active huh?" The brief look of surprise that flickered across the red heads features caused Hinata to giggle softly. "I... I ah... Damn it, that was sneaky ya know! I'm impressed Hinata." Naru gave a foxy grin at her friend before her features fell into a scowl. It took Hinata a half second longer to notice the source of her friends change. "Why does he insist on stalking me!?" Hinata's features slipped into a slight frown as she halted her training a brief moment or three before Kiba walked around the corner of the academy building. The last thing she saw of her friends face as she deactivated her eyes was a cold mask of indifference settling upon the red heads features as she turned back to the book she had been reading.

Kiba eyed the pair as he walked closer. His stance was fairly carefree; hands behind his head, which Akamaru was seated upon. 'Yo." The boy's voice cut through the silence that had cropped up just before his arrival, his tone was light, almost friendly. He came to a stop a few feet from Hinata as Akamaru let out a bark of greeting at the pair while Kiba tilted his head slightly to glance up at the red head in the tree. Hinata responded for the pair, the red head not even batting an eye at the boy's greeting. "Hello Kiba, Akamaru." Kiba frowned ever so slightly at Hinata's flat tone, it was vastly different to the usual gentle tone she used in the classroom. "Uh... I'm not interrupting am I?" It was a dumb question really, no one knew how exactly but the pair were never interrupted, they always managed to halt whatever it was they were doing at the time before anyone could catch a glance, or get close enough to overhear, even if they were in the middle of something.

"Yes actually, as a matter of fact you are." Much to the pair surprise it was the red head who spoke up. Now the pair were surprised for two reasons, first ever since Naru's first day she and Kiba had been on bad terms, to the point the red head ignored his presence entirely. Even if she drew him as a sparring partner she would simply leave the ring forfeiting over actually having to spar with the boy. Secondly, despite how much the girl ignored him, Kiba went out of his way to try and get her attention, to the point he was having to speak through other people to even talk to her. Now this brings us back to the point of their surprise, seeing as how the red head not only acknowledged his existence but spoke directly to the Inuzuka heir. The pair looked up at the red head, shock evident on their features.

Naru had all but closed the book she had been reading a single finger caught between closed pages to save her spot. She was glaring down at the boy and his companion, her normally bright blue eyes shining with her emotions were currently cold and hard like ice. The pair beneath the tree couldn't help but feel that look in her eyes was completely out of place.

Hinata remained quiet as a small smile tugged at her lips. "_About time she talks to him, maybe now we will be able to move past what happened..._"

Kiba look hurt for a moment, his body all but physically flinching away from the look the red head was giving him, though that quickly gave way to anger. "Really? 'Cause all I saw was you being rude, reading your dumb books again while ignoring your only friend!" Akamaru had the sense to remain quiet after seeing the look Naru had given his partner. "Of course that's all you saw baka! That's all we ever let people see ya know!" Kiba blinked a little at the red head's hostile tone before smirking at her. "All you let us see huh? As if! You're just a stuck up bitch who thinks your better then everybody else!" Akamaru's warning whimper rang in his ears as he yelled at the red head, though at this point he wasn't really able to stop himself as his mouth ran away with him.

It took a couple of minutes for Kiba's mind to process what had just happened as he had finished all but yelling at the red head. He could taste the distinct metallic tang of blood in his mouth and all he could see was the open blue sky above him, dotted with clouds. He was sure he had been under a tree not a moment ago...

As he sat up his brain finally started to catch with him, letting him know what had happened as it recovered from the rattling it just received. The first thing he recalled was the look that flickered briefly across the red head's features, it had not been pretty, that's when he realised he'd gone too far twenty twenty hindsight... The red head had then vanished from where she had been sitting in the tree as the last few words left his mouth right before she reappeared before the Inuzuka heir only to slam her fist into his face.

The blow had thrown him back several yards to land on his back where he was not currently sitting. His brain finally caught up abruptly alerted him to the throbbing pain in his jaw from the punch and matching throb in the back of his head from where he had hit the ground. His eyes watered from the pain as he shakily rose to his feet.

The two girls blinked a little in surprise as they watched Kiba not only sit up, but then rise to his feet, if a little unsteadily. "Ano... I thought..."

"Yeah..."

"...Then how is..."

"...I don't know..."

A brief pause ensued before Naru spoke again. "...Guess that thick head of his is good for something after all..."

The pair giggled at that as Naru set Akamaru on the ground having caught the puppy when his 'ride' got taken out from beneath him. The puppy glanced up at the red head before running over to Kiba.

Kiba stared at the red head, eyeing the girl for perhaps a moment longer then he should have, before turning and stalking off, hands in his pockets shoulders slightly slumped as Akamaru trotted at his heels, whimpering questioningly up at his partner.

Again the girls blinked in shock as they watched Kiba simply shrug off what had happened and walk away. "Maybe I knocked some sense into him..." Hinata sighed at her friend's words before nodding lightly. "_I just hope this didn't make things worse..._"

Kiba's thoughts were a mess, he couldn't believe what had just happened. He had just had his ass thrown several yards by a single punch, and he hadn't even seen it coming. "What the hell... I knew she was better then she was letting on... But really... Looks like I need to talk to Mum, I can't confront that girl like this... One punch from her sends me flying and I'm fairly sure she was holding back..." The boy growled at himself shaking his head as he headed back to class. "_She may just be better then everybody else..._"

The two girls looked at one another briefly before Naru shrugged. "Back to boredom then I guess." Hinata giggled faintly. "I think you mean the classroom Naru-chan." "That's what I said ya know, back to boredom." Naru gave her friend an exasperated look as if her friend was crazy for not understanding her. Hinata laughed softly, shaking her head at her friends antics as the pair headed back to class.

* * *

**That evening...**

Kiba looked up at his mother, he was getting worried. She had been silent for almost five minutes, something rather odd for the Alpha of the pack. Kiba all but jumped out of his skin when the Clan head finally spoke up. "Is this about that young Vixen you've been so interested in?" Kiba glanced aside before giving a small nod, his cheeks flushing a faint hew of pink. "Yes, I need to get stronger, and I think I'm ready to take this seriously."

The Alpha went silent as she eyed her son again, she couldn't understand this drastic change. "_Something happened today... But what..._" "I have but one condition." The Inuzuka matriarch smirked a little at the surprised look that crossed her son's face. "Only one?" The confusion in his voice was almost enough to make her laugh. Grinning in a feral manner at her son she spoke once more. "The training itself will demand more then I suspect you think, this condition is purely for my own satisfaction.

Kiba's eyes widened slightly at that before he nodded again. "I accept, regardless of whatever the condition is." Kiba couldn't help but shudder as the feral grin on his mother's face grew. "_Crap... I'm getting a bad feeling about this..._" The Alpha's voice cut through his thoughts, proving what he was feeling right. "The Vixen... I want to know everything concerning her Kiba and you'll keep me informed of anything new you find out." Tsume's voice came out in a pleased growl, the rather twisted glint in her eyes leaving Kiba staring at his mother in outright fear as he nodded shakily. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Naru was sitting quietly, a soft hum escaping her as she leaned back against the gargantuan tree behind her, one of many littering the forest surrounding the glade she was seated at the edge of. In her lap was a small ball of red fur, crooning delightedly at the red head's attention, the girls fingers were currently teasing their way through the ball of fur's fur.

The girl's mindscape had changed drastically since she had first found herself in the dank sewer that was what the great Kyūbi called his home and prison. The sewer had been transformed into a rather impressive forest, the tree's even larger than the Kyūbi. The one the red head was currently leaning against, while larger than the Hokage's office was one of the smaller tree's in the forest. The tree in question was also at the edge of the only glade in the forest that was now the Kyūbi's home. The glade itself was nondescript bar it always seemed to have rays of moonlight flooding it, leaving it the only spot in the forest that had light of any description, well not counting the twin glowing embers that were the Kyūbi's eyes.

The girl was nestled between two roots, tucked against the tree as she pet the fur ball in her lap. She was happy with the change, she had hated the sewer the moment she had landed in it, no one should have to live in that kind of squalor. The Kyūbi had full freedom to do as he pleased within the forest, though the glade was Naru's haven, the fox had to abide by her rules to enter it. Which is what currently explained the current situation.

A deep rumbling voice echoed through the glade as a single blood red eye opened to peer up at the red head. "**Who told you, you could stop?**" The voice was a little odd coming from such a small, and dangerously cute, ball of fur. Though that was to be expected, while his body had changed to that of a two tailed fox kit, he was still after all the great Kyūbi no Yoko.

Naru glanced down at her prisoner, snapped from her daze with a sheepish smile before she giggled lightly at the fur ball as she resumed running her fingers through the fox's fur. "Hehe... The great and all powerful Kyūbi no Yoko's one weakness! Scritching his ears and the base of his tale..." The Kyūbi merely gave the fox equivalent of a snort before curling back up to enjoy his containers renewed ministrations.

While it would appear that the seal as gone from first glance, but much to the fox's annoyance it was simply accessorised by the girl he was taking enjoyment from. The seal itself had been turned into a simple gold anklet which was around the fox's right foreleg. The band itself was unassuming with a simple gold ring about three inches wide with an engraving on it with the kanji for 'Seal'. The Kyūbi had appreciated the thought of giving him an accessory in the form of the gold band over a collar, showing that she didn't think of him as a house hold pet and held more respect for him then that.

"**So Kit... What's brought you in here tonight? You'd normally be studying or training, not sitting in here taking comfort in my company...**" While he didn't mind that the red head had come into the mindscape, it troubled him, not that he'd ever admit it to the little brat. She was normally a lot livelier and present then this evening. She'd been off in her own world and had barely spoken more than a dozen words.

"I hit him... Something in me just snapped. I'd had enough, he's been stalking me almost everywhere for two years... Hasn't even tried to explain himself ya know... And when he said that... I... I just lashed out..." Her tone was almost flat, her shoulders sagged a little as she spoke, her gaze once again going distant.

A deep rumbling chuckle kept her from completely disappearing into her own world once more. "**And? All you did was hit the dumb brat... What's the harm in that? Not like you haven't done it before...**" He was of course referring to a time several years ago when said boy had used her hair as a means to restrain her. Noting the wince at his words the Kyūbi frowned a little before giving a low brow. "**No container of mine is going to mope just because she punched some brat in the jaw. You didn't even do any damage!**"

Naru sighed faintly before shaking her head. She glanced back down at the fox in her lap before raising a hand to tuck a loose strand of red hair behind her left ear. "Blegh, since when did a being known for his rage become the voice of reason... Talk about embarrassing." Naru grinned a little to herself before leaning down and kissing the top of the fur balls head, murmuring a faint 'Thank you' as she did. "Right then. Back to training... Erk... Maybe dinner then sleep actually... It's already getting late huh..."

The Kyūbi gave a mental smirk at the red heads antics, glad to see the girl back to her usual self. "**Get out of here Kit, you've got stuff to do and you're eating into my sleeping time. And remember, even if you did lash out, it was about time something happened. Two years is a long time to put up with it.**" That got a snort out of the girl as she tried to keep the laughter from her voice. "When do you do anything but sleep? Useless fur ball..." She smiled at the fox as she slipped from her mindscape, her form fading out from beneath the fox.

Naru glanced about the dark room as she opened her eyes, night had well and truely fallen while she was hiding within her mindscape with the fox. Sighing to herself she got slowly to her feet, stretching out before moving into the kitchen, turning on some lights as she went. "_Dinner... Then maybe I'll read a little more before bed..._" She glanced briefly over her shoulder, staring at the wall to the left of her front door and smiled to herself. "_Yūgao-nee watching tonight, maybe I should make a cup of coffee for her..._" Moving about the kitchen the red head idly went about making herself dinner, then made a cup of coffee and moved into the living room. Placing her dinner on the table she went to the front door, stepped out and placed the mug on the ground before turning and heading back inside. The mug vanished before the red head had fully closed the door.

Yūgao smiled a little beneath her mask, shaking her head a little as she held the mug, both hands coiled about it. "_I wonder if the Hokage would let me be her Jōnin sensei instead of Kakashi..._" Her grin grew a little as she imagined the look on Kakashi's face when he was informed that she would be training the little red head instead of him. She knew it was unlikely, she still had a few years left of her ANBU service before she would get rotated out with a fresh batch of Jōnin. Sipping the coffee she let out a faint sigh of delight. "_Just the way I like it... Trust Naru-chan to remember how I like it..._" Shaking her head a little she let her thoughts wander a little as she drank the hot drink while keeping her vigil.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Yay! Posted... And like, sorry it took so long... Been procrastinating something fierce! Anyway, new chapter and working on the next woo. Uh... What else... Not too happy with where it ended, but I really wanted to get it up, so I guess it's okay. Next chapter will start at the beginning of her third year and will finish with her graduating I guess. Depends on what happens when I'm writing. Anyway, same deal as before, feel free to comment or review ect! And idea's are welcome via PM or email.

**Ranton: Doragon no Tsume - **Storm release: Dragon's Claw. This jutsu was developed by the missing nin Karis in an attempt to further her use of her Kekkei Genkai. The jutsu was giving its name due to the claw like tip to the beam which is fired from the palm of the hand. The claw has little use, and was theorised to form due to the way Karis held her hand when forming the attack.

**Ranton: Arashi no iki – **Storm Release: Breath of the Storm. Karis' fabled most powerful attack, able to cut through almost anything with the condensed energy of her Kekkei Genkai. The most dangerous part of the jutsu is the frontal cone, while it is only a small ball that is usually used for the technique, it spreads out to do devastating damage before the user.

**Fūsui Rappa no Jutsu – **Combination attack where the users create a giant wave of water and reinforce it with wind to increase its speed and destructive power.

**Fūinjutsu: Chakura Yokusei Shiiru, nettowaaku – **This seal is a form of chakra suppression seal that suppresses the targets chakra network, keeping them from being able to access their chakra.


End file.
